Lot 1554 D α

This portrait of Konrad Ribbing was painted by Godfried Schalcken and is dated 1701, thus dating it to Schalken's Hague period. The artist settled here in 1698 following a successful sojourn to London and before being summoned to the court of Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz in Düsseldorf.
The work depicts the Swedish jurist Konrad Ribbing, who was also painted by the Swedish artist Johan Henrik Scheffel in 1727 (Gripsholm Castle, Mariefried, Sweden). Following stays in Denmark, Germany, France and the Netherlands, Konrad Ribbing returned to Sweden where he worked as a judge, governor and head of the Bergkollegium. The sitter is depicted in an allonge wig, as was the fashion of the era, and the 30 year old gazes out confidently towards the beholder. Schalken has modelled the face in pronounced chiaroscuro and the differentiated depiction of the various fabrics of the jacket, neckerchief and coat testify to the artist's successful training under Gerrit Dou, the leading proponent of the Leiden school of “fijnschilder”. It is probable that Ribbing had his portrait painted by Schalken in 1701 during one of his sojourns to the Netherlands.