Attribution: Bisschop, Cornelis (Dordrecht, February 12, 1630 - Dordrecht, January 21, 1674) (Painter)
Previous attribution: Helst, Bartholomeus van der (Haarlem, 1613 - Amsterdam, 1670)
Family portrait
Family portrait
Realization : 1660
Area: Painting
Technique(s): Canvas (oil painting)
Dimensions : H. 163 cm ; W. 148.5 cm
Inventory no.: 83.4.1
Photo credit(s) :
Lauginie, François
Camus, Christophe
Cartel
This family portrait is one of the few Dutch group portraits in French public collections. Trained in Amsterdam under Ferdinand Bol, Cornelis Bisschop developed an eclectic style, receptive to the original art of contemporary artists such as Maes and Van der Helst in portraiture, and Gerbrand Van den Eeckhout in religious painting. A specialist in small genre scenes, he is close to the art of Pieter de Hooch and the Leyden school. The painting of Orleans demonstrates his talent as a portraitist. A wealthy married couple is reunited with their three children. The head of the family leans against a table covered with a sumptuous oriental carpet, where a Chinese porcelain bowl is placed, signs of the couple's wealth and the commercial prosperity of the Netherlands in the 17th century. The artist has applied great care to the rendering of the ceremonial costumes, a reflection of Dutch fashion in the 1660's. In a range dominated by black and white, dear to 17th-century Dutch toilettes, the poppy dress of the smiling toddler and the blue reflection in his mother's skirt stand out. The artist has applied extreme rigor to the arrangement of the figures: the monumental, calm presence of the parents is matched by the dynamism of the children. Each character is linked to the others by the play of glances or hands, in an elegance that is characteristic of the artist. The baby, still in his dress, has noticed the painter's presence and seems interrupted in his play: a cake refused to a greedy dog. His face is encased in a white bonnet embellished with bows, and he wears a golden rattle around his waist.
Provenance
Bequest from Mr. and Mrs. Lieutenant Colonel Marchand Raffaintin to the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans, 1983.
School
Hollande
Location
Museum of Fine Arts
2nd floor
Room: The Golden Age in Northern Schools