Louis Vallée

Dutch, died 1653

The first and only document that refers specifically to Louis Vallée is the register that records his burial in Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk on May 28, 1653. According to the register, he had been living in the Warmoesstraat in Amsterdam.[1] Beyond this, nothing is known of Vallée’s biographical details. He seems to have worked mainly in the province of Holland. Between 1646 and 1652, when he signed and dated a portrait of the Druyvesteyn children of Haarlem (private collection, the Netherlands),[2] Jan Sysmus, an Amsterdam physician, mentions another group portrait that Vallée painted, comparing its style to works by Flinck, Govaert. [3] 

Although nothing is known about Vallée’s training, his rare works, most of which are portraits or history paintings, suggest the influence of the Amsterdam painter Jacob Backer (1608–1651), and it is possible that he studied with this older master.[4] Vallée’s family origins are most likely French, as was the case with architect Simon de la Vallée (c. 1590–1642), who emigrated from Paris to The Hague, where he worked for Prince Frederik Hendrik from 1633 to 1637. It is unclear whether Louis Vallée was related to Simon de la Vallée. 


[1] Amsterdam Municipal Archives, inv. no. 1046, fol. 129v. Cited in Maarten Wurfbain, M. L. Wurfbain Fine Art, B.V., IV (Oegstgeest, 1992), 187. 

[2] Maarten Wurfbain, M. L. Wurfbain Fine Art, B.V., IV (Oegstgeest, 1992), 187.

[3] Abraham Bredius, “Het Schilderregister van Jan Sysmus, Stads-Doctor van Amsterdam,” Oud-Holland 8 (1890): 297.

[4] His works are also stylistically similar to other Amsterdam history painters, such as Bartholomeus van der Helst (c. 1613–1670) and Abraham van den Tempel (c. 1622/1623–1672). 

Explore selected works

Set in a mountainous landscape, a curvy, robust woman wounded with a short slash across her chest reclines into the arms of an older, bearded man as second, cleanshaven man, at the lower left corner, holds an arrow tip to his own chest in this horizontal painting. The people have pale, peachy skin but the older man has a more tan complexion. The reclining woman at the center of the composition, Dorinda, lies back with her left cheek pressed against that shoulder. Her left elbow, on our right, is propped up at shoulder height, perhaps on a rock, and she holds up her other arm alongside her body, her palm facing out at the younger man in the lower left, Silvio. A string of pearls sits like a crown on Dorinda’s blond, curling hair. The skin of her face is pale but her eyelids and cheeks are deeply flushed. She looks down along her body toward Silvio with dark eyes, and her slack lips are parted. Her flowing white blouse falls off her shoulders and bunches up across her chest, almost covering the bleeding wound on the center of her chest. Her wine-red skirt glints in the light, suggesting it is silk, and is bunched up around her bare feet. Silvio has flowing dark brown hair and pointed features. He is shown from the waist up, leaning toward and looking up at the wounded woman. His hair falls loosely over his shoulders, and his pink lips are parted. He holds a brown wrap over a blousy white shirt with his right hand, closer to us, and holds up the point of an arrow to his chest with the other hand. The older man, to our right, has a wiry gray beard and ash-gray hair curling around his ears. Wrinkles line his forehead, the corners of his eyes, and the sides of his mouth. His dark brown robe nearly swallows his body. He looks down toward Silvio as he supports Dorinda. A gold and black quiver of arrows and a silver, crescent-shaped horn with red tassels sit near the lower right corner, near Dorinda’s elbow. A tree grows right behind the man. The rest of the mountainous landscape is hazy in the deep distance.
Louis Vallée, Silvio with the Wounded Dorinda, 165(1)?, oil on canvas, Gift of Patricia Bauman and the Honorable John Landrum Bryant, 2000.114.1

Silvio with the Wounded Dorinda

Louis Vallée · 165(1)? · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2000.114.1

Bibliography

1890

  • Bredius, Abraham. "Het Schildersregister van Jan Sysmus, Stads-Doctor van Amsterdam, III." Oud Holland 8 (1890): 297-298.

1911

  • Marguillier, Auguste. "Un artiste ignoré (Louis Vallé)." Les Arts 11 (1911): 16.

1964

  • Duits, Clifford. "Louis Vallée: The Man with Only Three Paintings to His Credit.” Duits Quarterly 1, no. 4 (1964): 14-16.

1992

  • Wurfbain, Maarten L. M.L. Wurfbain Fine Art: Catalogue IV. Oegstgeest, 1992: 185-187.