Full Record |
| Title |
Portrait of a Man |
| Collection |
Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery |
| Artist |
Vois, Ary de (Dutch painter, ca.1632-1680) |
| Date Earliest |
possibly about 1672 |
| Date Latest |
1690 |
| Signed |
yes |
| Description |
Small 'cabinet' pictures were highly popular in seventeenth-century Holland. Paintings like this by Ary de Vois were highly collectable, showing off the artist's skill in the depiction of such fine detail. The identity of the sitter is unknown. It is possible that the artist invented a character simply for the amusement of the viewer. From his foppish pink hat, tasselled cravat and groomed moustache we can tell that he was a fashionable and perhaps vain young man of some wealth. His wistful gaze makes us wonder at the content of the letter in his hand. |
| Current Accession Number |
Art00324 |
| Former Accession Number |
Marling no. 76 |
| Inscription |
front lr 'AVS(E)' (in monogram) |
| Subject |
portrait; figure |
| Measurements |
18.5 x 15.1 cm cm (estimate) |
| Material |
oil on metal (copper) |
| Acquisition Details |
Bequeathed by Samuel Stanley Marling 1963. |
| Principal Exhibitions |
The Cabinet Picture, Dutch and Flemish Masters of the Seventeenth Century, Richard Green at Three London Galleries, 1999, cat. p. 110. |
| Publications |
Wright, C., The Cabinet Picture, Dutch and Flemish Masters of the Seventeenth Century, London, 1999, pp. 108, 110, ill. p. 111. |
| Notes |
The monogram is painted on the base of the coloumn to the right of the painting. An 'E' has been recorded previously, but it is now hidden by the frame. Christopher Wright has suggested that this work was painted after the French invasion of 1672 as the man's clothes appear to have been influenced by French fashions. (See Wright, C., The Cabinet Picture, Dutch and Flemish Masters of the Seventeenth Century, London, 1999, p. 110.) Samuel Stanley Marling, Stroud, Gloucestershire. |
| Rights Owner |
Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery |
| Author |
Dr Anne L. Cowe |
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