Jan Anthonisz. van Ravesteyn Pair of portraits:... Lot 2042

Jan Anthonisz. van Ravesteyn Pair of portraits: portrait of a man in black robe with white collar, and portrait of a woman in dark dress trimmed with bows Oil on wood. Each 69 x 57 cm (oval). Jan van Ravesteyn was already described as an excellent portrait painter by Karel van Mander in 1604. After a possible apprenticeship with Michiel van Mierevelt in Delft, he moved to The Hague, where he became one of the leading portraitists of the upper class for almost half a century. Ravesteyn's portraits of local dignitaries, military leaders, and groups are notable for their formal poses and meticulous rendering of costume details. In the present portraits of an unknown Dutch couple, the stylistic influence of Mierevelt, who shaped Ravesteyn's work, is palpable. Unlike his teacher, Ravestyn chooses a more elegant and idealized representation of his protagonists. The two portraits are comparable to a pair of portraits dated and signed 1637, offered at Sotheby's Amsterdam on October 5, 2005, lot 40 (see RKD, The Hague, image number 135127).