Lot 1039 Nα

We no longer know the identity of this young lady portrayed in 1631 by Jan van Ravesteyn. The painting bears neither coat-of-arms nor inscription that would help us identify her. However, the clothing and jewellery mark her as a member of a wealthy Dutch burgher family. She wears a large ruff and tight black gown with long sleeves, a so-called “bouwen”, which indicates she is unmarried. Her hair is rigidly combed back and concealed by a lace bonnet. The stark black and white colour scheme of her clothing focusses attention on the golden chain at her neck and the one at her waist, visible at the lower edge of the work.
A similar portrait painted by van Ravesteyn around two years earlier, showing a girl of a similar age, recently appeared on the international art market (cf. Japser Hillegars in: Salomon Lilian: Old Masters 2015. Amsterdam 2015, p. 46-51). The coat-of-arms and inscription on this work identify the sitter as Catharina van Beverwijck, daughter of a wealthy Dordrecht burgher. We can assume a similar situation for the present work, and thus the portrait must have been commissioned by a well-to-do patron wishing to have his unmarried daughter painted by the leading portrait painter in The Hague at around age 16.
One is tempted to see in this work the face of a young girl looking somewhat timidly towards the beholder, her lips curled into a barely noticeable smile. It is impossible to say whether contemporary viewers regarded the work in the same way, but nevertheless it exhibits why Jan van Ravesteyn was so sought-after as a portrait painter both within and beyond the borders of The Hague. He has managed, despite the reduced palette and the austerity of the clothing, to depict the girl in the flower of her youth, with lively eyes, a pretty mouth and a fresh complexion.