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Female Portrait

Pieter Paul Rubens (circle), Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn

Basic information

ID: Ж-3491
Author: Pieter Paul Rubens (circle) Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn
Name: Female Portrait
Date of creation: c.1620
Country: Holland
Technique: oil painting
Material: wood oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 45.5 x 37

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: portraiture
Plot: Portrait
Provenance: Received from the Hermitage, 1955
Exposition: Potocki Palace

Information about author

Author: Pieter Paul Rubens (circle)
Artist's lifetime: 1577–1640
Country: Flanders
Biography: Pieter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) was a Flemish painter, one of the most prominent representatives of the Baroque period.

Information about author

Author: Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn
Artist's lifetime: c.1572–1657
Country: Holland
Biography: Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn (c. 1572–1657) was a Dutch painter of official portraits. He worked for the Dukes of Nassau royal family in The Hague and was commissioned to portray members of the higher social classes. Ravesteyn's artistic career spans from 1599 to 1640. There is not much information about the artist. It is not known who he studied under. There is a mention that he was in Delft in 1597, and therefore his teacher could have been the local portraitist Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt (1567–1641). However, Mirevelt's influence is only visible in the artist's later works. The first Dutch art historian, Karel van Mander, recognised Ravesteyn as a skilful portraitist in 1604. In 1598, the artist became a member of the Saint Luke's Guild in The Hague, where he lived and worked until the end of his life. The circle of his clients was geographically diverse. Still, his best works, mostly group portraits, were associated with The Hague: multifigure compositions depicting members of the local civic guards or magistrates and portraits of officers. In all of the artist's paintings, the portrayed individuals are depicted in black suits with delicate lace white cuffs, which were fashionable at the time. Great attention is given to depicting jewellery, clothing adornments, texture, and the interweaving of fabrics.

Object description

The work is a bust portrait of a young rosy-cheeked woman. Her head is turned three-quarters to the right, and her torso to the left. The large blue eyes of the portrayed woman in a dark dress are directed at the viewer. The person depicted in this Gallery portrait resembles the portrait of Mevrouw Vrijdags van Vollenhoven, which is preserved in a museum in Lille (France) and was painted by Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn. The same characteristic angle of the portrayed person and the head-turning can be observed. The light and shadow modelling of the face and its carnation are also similar. There is also a very detailed depiction of clothing and jewellery. Hans-Joachim Raupp, a well-known scholar of the Dutch Golden Age art, noted that fashion development was only prominent in elite circles. And in the 20s and 30s of the seventeenth century, black suits and dresses with white lace collars, often in the form of a ruffle, were popular. In the Gallery portrait, the subject's outfit looks more modest, and gold chains around her neck hang down from under the ruffled collar.

Portrayed person

The name of the person portrayed: Mevrouw Vrijdags van Vollenhoven (?)

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Female Portrait

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