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| Artist | Voorhout, Johannes (Dutch painter, 1647-1723) |
| Title | Portrait of a Gentleman |
| Date | 1686 (dated) |
| Material | oil on canvas |
| Measurements | 84 x 68.5 cm |
| Inscription | front lr 'J. voorhout f 1686'; front lc 'AE 44' |
| Description | Johannes Voorhout probably painted this portrait in Amsterdam, where he settled in the late 1670s. The influence of French portraiture can be seen in the easy refinement of the pose and the costume of the unknown sitter. This image recalls the portrait types popularised by Nicolas de Largillière, as well as the models established by Anthony Van Dyck earlier in the century. The sophistication of the background, where the elaborate architecture and red curtains suggest the terrace of a country house, also departs from the neutrality and the sober domesticity which characterises Dutch portraiture in the previous decades. |
| Subject | portrait |
| Collection | Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle |
| Current accession number | B.M.97 |
| Previous accession number(s) | No. 486; No. 50 |
| Acquisition details | Bequeathed by the founders John and Joséphine Bowes 1885. |
| Provenance | M. d' E. sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 1866, as by 'Vooront', bought by Lamer; purchased by John and Joséphine Bowes from Lamer, 1866, 40 francs. |
| Notes |
This portrait exemplifies the shift towards a more aristocratic manner in Dutch portraiture during the last decades of the seventeenth century, as studied by Joanna Woodall. See Woodall, J., 'Sovereign Bodies: The Reality of Status in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Portraiture', in Portraiture. Facing the Subject, Manchester, 1997, pp. 75-100. |
| Rights status | The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham |
| Author | Dr Mercedes Cerón |
