Wallace Collection Online - Portrait of a Young Woman

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Attributed to Aert de Gelder (1645 - 1727) Portrait of a Young Woman Netherlands: Date: c.1680-1700

Object Type: Painting

Medium: Oil on canvas

Image size: 80 x 64 cm
Frame size: 103.5 x 87 cm

Inv: P78

Location: East Galleries I

Born into a wealthy family, De Gelder probably studied with Samuel van Hoogstraten (important art theorist and author of the Introduction to the Academy of Painting, 1678) before becoming the last pupil of Rembrandt. He spent about two years in Rembrandt’s workshop and then returned to Dordrecht, where he remained for the rest of his life. His style changed little over his career, making it difficult to date his work. His broad brushwork, use of thickly layered paint and scratched surfaces recall the late manner of Rembrandt, which he consciously adopted. His late works, though by then stylistically old-fashioned, reflect something of the changing artistic fashions of the eighteenth century in their brighter tonality and greater refinement of technique. This picture recalls some of the tronies, or character heads in exotic costume, a subject popularized by Rembrandt and his followers. The soft modelling of the facial features, distinctively rimmed eyes and rough impasto of the costume, all features are highly reminiscent of De Gelder’s female subjects of the late 1680s and 1690s.

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