JACOB FERDINAND VOET (attr. a) Lot n° 68

(Antwerp, 1639 - Paris, 1689) Portrait of a gentleman Oil on canvas, 73X61 cm Provenance: Florence, private collection The Flemish Jacob Ferdinand Voet pursued his career in Rome, where he arrived in 1663 probably after sojourning in France. His extraordinary talent as a portrait painter was the basis of his collecting fortune, which is measured by the very high number of portraits he produced for the papal court and aristocracy. Suffice it to mention the effigies of the Queen of Sweden, Cardinal Azzolino and those destined for the Chigi, Odescalchi, Rospigliosi and Colonna families. But the painter was also sought after by the Lombard nobility, the House of Savoy, while there are not a few canvases in which the identity of the protagonist is hardly recognizable. His production exhibits relevant qualitative aspects, which can be grasped by observing the expressive force of the gazes, the psychological introspection and that sprezzatura in which Nordic instances are skillfully blended with Italian Baroque elegance. His competitiveness in this specific pictorial genre over the more established Carlo Maratti and Giovanni Battista Gaulli is not surprising then. Returning to the work in the catalog, it can be considered typical of the artist, because of the loquacious affability of the face, the communicative vitality of the eyes, and the care with which the ornaments of the dress are described.