Oil on canvas
110 x 92 cm.
Signed with monogram in ligature and dated upper right: 1630 / PM RKDimages, nos. 108617 and 165407.
Art-historical texts and documentation by Rudi Ekkart and Claire van den Donk
In his dissertation on the painter Paulus Moreelse, Eric Domela Nieuwenhuis included this portrait in his oeuvre catalogue of the artist on the basis of a photograph of the work and a remark by art historian drs. Luuk Pijl, who had seen the painting at Christie’s in London in May 2000. Pijl believed the piece to be a copy of a work by Moreelse, and, based on several details visble in the photographs, Domela Nieuwenhuis initially deemed Luuk Pijl’s opinion as plausible. However, after examining the painting in person some years later at Douwes art dealers in Amsterdam, Domela Nieuwenhuis concluded that doubts regarding its authenticity were unfounded and affirmed it to be an original portrait by Paulus Moreelse. This conclusion has been fully confirmed by our recent research. The slightly weaker handling of a few elements mentioned in the dissertation, such as the curtain and table covering, is not uncommon in the artist’s later work and may be attributed to studio collaboration. Such assistance from apprentices was standard practice for Moreelse, as it also was with his contemporaries Michiel van Mierevelt and Jan van Ravesteyn, for example.
Moreelse’s compositions
Between 1625-1635, Paulus Moreelse produced a number of knee-length portraits, often created as companion pieces. In these works, male sitters are frequently portrayed with greater pizzazz than their female counterparts, a phenomenon not unusual in the Dutch portraiture of the first half of the seventeenth century. In the present painting, several features are consistent with other female portraits by Moreelse from this period: the presence of a table on which the sitter rests her right hand; the depiction of the left hand hanging freely, with a relatively long middle finger; and, of course, several elements of the costume.
A particularly close parallel can be found in the 1631 portrait of Anna Heldewier (1577-1657), wife of Peter d’Ablaing (1564-1636).1 That portrait also includes a table with the sitter’s hand resting upon it, though the table is positioned slightly higher, altering the viewing angle.2 Another notable corresponding detail is the drawn-up curtain in the left upper corner, a compositional motif shared by both works.
Portrait of a patrician lady
Regrettably, the portrayed woman’s identity remains unknown to us. She likely belonged to the Utrecht patriciate, as did most of Moreelse’s clientele. Her luxurious attire including a black satin gown with fashionable full paned virago sleeves gathered in the middle with black ribbons, a black rosette on the bodice and a composite standing collar of fine white linen with matching cuffs suggests wealth and status. Further decorative elements include jewellery such as a thumb ring, a long necklace and bracelets of black pearls. Given the rarity of black pearls from the Gulf of California in the early seventeenth century, it is likely that these faux-pearls were perhaps made of tinted glass or beads. The sitter’s black pearls and cap may indicate that she was a widow at the time the portrait was painted. This is not certain, however, as such black jewellery and head wear were also regularly worn by other women following the fashion of the period.
A personal note from the gallery
‘A very reserved (possibly Calvinsitic) woman. Confident, proper and composed in every detail. At first glance she seems restrained, but the longer you look, the more she opens up. There’s a faint smile, a warmth behind her formality. And with time you start to sense her good-hearted spirit. I often catch myself standing still in front of her, unable to turn away. Moreelse was Utrecht’s leading portraitist, and this lady embodies the refinement and elegance of that circle. It is a grand painting with a quiet strength. The kind of portrait that can command a room.’
Jaco Pieper, owner Argento Gallery
Provenance
Probably Collection E. Schopf, Stuttgart, 1957; Collection Rudolf Külbel, Sulzbach/Murr, 1993; Sale Amsterdam (Sotheby’s), 5 November 2002, lot 258; Sale Amsterdam (Sotheby’s), 4 November 2003, lot 42 (as by Paulus Moreelse and studio); Art Dealer Douwes, Amsterdam, 2005.
Literature
Exh. cat. Meisterwerke aus baden-württembergischem Privatbesitz, Stuttgart (Staatsgalerie) 1958-1959, no. 123 and ill. 51; Eric Domela Nieuwenhuis Nyegaard, Paulus Moreelse (1571-1638), Leiden 2001 (unpublished dissertation), vol. II, p. 480, no. SBP103.
Notes
1. Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE), Amersfoort, inv. no. LM03291. The companion piece of inv. no. LM03290. Both paintings formerly belonged to the collection of the Delft Museum Lambert van Meerten, which was closed in 2013. For these works, see Carla H. de Jonge, Paulus Moreelse. Portreten genreschilder te Utrecht 1571-1638, Assen (Van Gorcum) 1938, p. 94, nos. 99a and 99b, plate 93 and 94; Domela Nieuwenhuis 2001 (see above), pp. 483-485, nos. SAP108a and SAP108b.
2. In the pendant portrait of Peter d’Ablaing, the table is placed somewhat lower in the picture plane, allowing the sitter’s hand to be seen from a higher viewpoint.
