Provenance

Sedelmeyer Gallery

Galerie Charles Sedelmeyer
Galerie Sedelmeyer

French, active late 19th century - early 20th century

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A woman playing a lute sits next to a table, on which a man perches and leans toward her in this vertical painting. Two people look on from the background. All the people have pale skin. The table is covered by cloth patterned in brick red, fawn brown, and black, and it extends off the right edge of the painting. The woman sits along the narrow end of the table to our left of center. Her body faces us as she holds the lute in her lap, one foot resting on a small wooden box. Her left elbow, to our right, is propped on the table to hold the neck of the lute. Her curly, blond hair is pulled back under a string of pearls and a fuzzy salmon-pink cap, or a feather, covers the back of her head. The bodice and puffy, elbow-length sleeves of her gown have cream-white and peach-colored stripes, and the ivory-white satin skirt falls to her feet. She wears a thin gold necklace and pearl earrings. With lips parted, she turns her face up to look at the cleanshaven man sitting on the table next to her. The man’s brown curls fall loosely over his shoulders. A long, wide white collar hangs down the front of his mustard-brown jacket. The voluminous white shirt he wears underneath shows where the jacket is unbuttoned near his waist and at his cuffs. He wears thigh-length, red pantaloons and close-fitting tan leggings. Baggy white socks hang around his ankles, and his brown shoes are tied with laces. A wooden flute sticks out of the pocket farther from the woman, and he holds a tall black hat in his lap, cradled in his left hand, to our right. With his other hand, he reaches to pluck a string near the peg board of the lute. One foot dangles off the edge of the table, and the other is propped on a bench, next to an open book. A glass with a tall stem and rounded bowl sits on the table next to him. Farther back in the shadows of the room, an older woman looks toward the couple, perhaps at the man’s hand on the lute, with her mouth slightly open. A white bonnet frames the woman’s face, and she wears a black hood and cloak over her dark dress. A bed under a box-like canopy sits along the back wall, and is cut off by the left edge of the painting. Dark curtains hanging from the canopy are pulled back to show two white pillows laid one atop the other. Also at the back of the room, to our right, a man peers in through a half-opened, arched door. He wears a conical, black, brimless hat and has a white collar over a dark coat. He looks toward the older woman with one index finger held to the corner of his grinning mouth. The wall is covered with gold-embossed, brown leather squares. The artist signed and dated the painting as if he had written in the open book on the bench: “J Steen 1667,” with the letters J and S entwined.
Jan Steen, Ascagnes and Lucelle (The Music Lesson), 1667, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection, 1926), 2014.136.45

Ascagnes and Lucelle (The Music Lesson)

Jan Steen · 1667 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.136.45

An older man, a young man, and a dog stand on a verandah that opens onto a landscape in this vertical portrait painting. The men are pale skinned and shown from the knees up. The older man stands on the left with his head turned to look off in that direction. Long, silver-gray hair frames his flushed face. Bushy brows curve over his dark gray eyes, and deep creases line his long nose. His plump pink lips are closed between a thin white mustache above and a dot of a beard below. A long white collar hangs down the chest of his lead-gray jacket. His right sleeve, on our left, is turned back to show the cuff of a puffy-sleeved white shirt underneath. That hand holds gleaming velvet-black fabric, which is gathered at his waist and falls to his knees. His other hand rests on the shoulder of the young man to our right. That man’s oval face is framed by thick, shoulder-length, curly, chestnut-brown hair. He gazes at us with amber eyes under slender brows. He has flushed cheeks, a narrow nose, and coral-red lips are slightly parted. A bright orange ribbon tied under a white brocaded ascot around his neck is wider than his face. His russet-brown jacket is unbuttoned to show an embroidered gold and azure-blue vest underneath. A wide pink sash is fastened around his left elbow, on our right, and billowing white sleeves extend from the shorter sleeves of the jacket. He holds his right hand, to our left, palm up with his index finger extended toward the dog in front of him, who has turned to look up. Shown from the back, the dog has long, glossy, coffee-brown fur with some white streaks. The young man’s other hand rests on a chipped stone balustrade next to him. The artist signed and dated the work as if he had carved the front face of the balustrade to read, “N. De Largillierre F. 1685.” Two stone columns rise to either side of the young man and give way to a tree-filled landscape under a muted blue sky above.
Nicolas de Largillierre, Portrait of a Young Man and His Tutor, 1685, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.26

Portrait of a Young Man and His Tutor

Nicolas de Largillierre · 1685 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.9.26

This vertical portrait painting shows a pale-skinned older woman wearing a full, long-sleeved black dress with a wide white ruff at her neck and white lace cuffs at her wrists. She sits in a curving, low-backed wood chair against a pale brown background. Her body and the chair are angled slightly to our left, and she looks directly at us. She has small eyes, pink, rounded cheeks, and a wide chin. Her lips are parted in a slight smile, and her hair is covered by a starched, sheer white cap that flares at the sides. The ruff around her neck is gathered in accordion-like, narrow figure-eight folds, and it extends flat and stiff, nearly to her shoulders. Close inspection reveals that the dress is woven with a black-on-black brocade pattern and has a line of small black buttons down the front. She holds a small brown leather book tooled with gold ornament in her right hand, on our left, and her other hand rests on the arm of the chair. She wears a gold ring on each hand. An inscription is painted to our left of her head: “AETAT SVAE 60 ANo 1633.”
Frans Hals, Portrait of a Woman Aged Sixty, 1633, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.67

Portrait of a Woman Aged Sixty

Frans Hals · 1633 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.67

Shown from the waist up, a light-skinned man sits sideways in a wooden chair so the arm closer to us rests along the chair’s back in this vertical portrait painting. Brushstrokes are visible throughout, especially in the clothing and hair. The man’s right arm, to our left, drapes across the back of the chair. His face turns slightly to our right, and he looks at us with gray eyes under black, curving brows. He has an oval face with high cheekbones and a snub nose. His coral-pink lips are closed and framed by a mustache and pointed patch of hair under his lower lip. He is lit from our left so the far side of his face is in shadow. His loose, curly brown hair cascades over his shoulders. He wears a tall black hat with a stiff, wide brim with a black rosette or pompom on the brim to our right side. The hat is tipped slightly to one side so it angles away from us. A flat, stiff, white collar extends from his chin down to his shoulders, and two tassels hang at this throat. The voluminous sleeve along the back of the chair has a gold pattern picked out in loosely painted, swirling, feathered, and flaring lines against a black background. The jacket is unbuttoned along the forearm to reveal a stark white undershirt that is gathered with a narrow ruffle at the wrist. The chair has a crimson-red center framed by wooden rails to each side and along the top. The background is earth brown to our right of the man, and deepens to dark shadows along the left. A coat of arms, the size of the man’s palm, hangs from the back wall. Three black cow heads create an inverted triangle on a gold field. Under the coat of arms the artist inscribed, “AETA SVAE.22 1645.”
Frans Hals, Willem Coymans, 1645, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.69

Willem Coymans

Frans Hals · 1645 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1937.1.69

A pale-skinned man wearing a gray monk’s robe stands holding a wooden cross in one hand and a book and a baby in the other in this tall, narrow, vertical painting. The man is under a rounded arch in front of a deep landscape. His body faces us but he looks down and to our left with brown eyes under curved brows. He is clean-shaven, and his dark hair is cut into a ring around his head. The dark gray robe falls to his bare feet and is tied with a rope around his middle. The book he holds in his left hand, to our right, is open, the gold edges of the pages shiny against the vivid red binding. A small nude baby sits upright on the open book, hands together in prayer. The child has blond hair and thin limbs. The man stands on a pink and blue tiled floor near a gray step. Just beyond the dark gray stone arch is a cluster of royal blue iris. A grassy lawn extends to a body of water, a white tower tucked among trees, and distant blue hills under a pale blue sky.
Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century, The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anthony of Padua [right panel], c. 1500/1520, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.17.c

The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anthony of Padua [right panel]

Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century · c. 1500/1520 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.17.c

Two women and a baby, all with pale skin, sit together on a gray, stone throne with patterned fabric hanging behind them and a patterned rug below in this narrow, vertical painting. The woman sitting on the throne, Saint Anne, is the largest. A second woman, Mary, is smaller in scale, and she sits on Saint Anne’s lap. Mary, in turn, holds a nude baby boy on her lap. Both women have light brown eyes under faint, arched brows, smooth skin, long straight noses, and their shell-pink lips are closed. Saint Anne sits with her body facing us and she looks down with her head slightly tilted to our left. Her white head covering drapes over her shoulders and hangs down from her chin to cover her neck. She wears a marine-blue dress cinched at her waist with a black and gold belt, and a crimson-red robe that falls to and puddles around her feet. Her right arm, on our left, wraps around and holds Mary’s hip, and she supports a book with gold-edged pages with her other hand. Mary sits on Saint Anne’s right thigh, to our left, and leans toward the baby, who sits on her left knee, to our right. Her long, wavy, brown hair falls over her shoulders, and she wears a cobalt-blue robe over a lilac-purple dress. The baby has short, curly blond hair and reaches to turn the pages of the book. He has rounded cheeks and a pudgy torso. The stone throne is ornamented on the arms and at the top corners with ivory-white, nude children that are presumably also carved out of stone. The cloth hanging behind Saint Anne is decorated with glimmering gold, ornamental leaf designs against a pine-green background. The rug beneath her feet is a geometric pattern of red, tan, black, and white.
Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century, The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child [middle panel], c. 1500/1520, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.17.b

The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child [middle panel]

Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century · c. 1500/1520 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.17.b

An older, pale-skinned man wearing a richly brocaded robe and bishop’s mitre stands under a rounded arch in front of a deep landscape in this tall, narrow, vertical painting. The man faces our right and has a deeply lined face with light brown eyes under thick brows, a long nose, and a pale, closed mouth. His dimpled chin and jowly neck are tinged with a five-o-clock shadow. The pointed gold mitre on his head is encrusted with pearls and ruby-red, olive-green, and dark gray gems. He wears a long white garment under a scarlet-red and shimmering gold brocaded robe. Bands down the shoulders and front of the robe show angels, an eagle, and a collection of objects. He wears marine-blue gloves and gold rings on both hands. One hand is held in front of his chest, the first two fingers extended. He holds a crozier, a staff with a gold, spiraling top, in the other hand. He stands on a pink and blue tiled floor near a gray step. The arched opening behind him gives way to a landscape with trees, gray stone towers, and distant blue hills under a pale blue sky.
Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century, The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Nicholas [left panel], c. 1500/1520, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.17.a

The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Nicholas [left panel]

Gerard David, Netherlandish 15th/16th Century · c. 1500/1520 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.17.a

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned man wearing armor stands with his body facing our left in profile but he turns his head to look up and over our right shoulder in front of a distant, gray landscape in this vertical portrait painting. He looks into the distance with brown eyes under dark, arched eyebrows. Chestnut-brown hair flows around his ears and to the back of his neck. His straight nose is slightly hooked at the end, and his pink lips are closed under a wispy mustache. He has plump, lightly flushed cheeks, and sagging jowls lead to a double chin. Light from our left glints off the suit of armor that covers his arms and round belly. He stands with his left hand, closer to us, resting on the hilt of a sword hanging at his side so his elbow points toward us. His other hand rests on the top of a cane. A leather strap crosses his chest, and a thin layer of lace encircles his neck. A ruby-red sash is tied around his upper left arm in a bow and billows around and behind him. The landscape beyond has a dark blue sky with charcoal-gray clouds above a low, sunlit horizon. The painting is inscribed with dark capital letters in the upper right corner: “MDV RAPHAEL RACIVS. H REIP. TRIREMIVM PRAEFE.”
Sir Anthony van Dyck, The Prefect Raffaele Raggi, c. 1625, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.90

The Prefect Raffaele Raggi

Sir Anthony van Dyck · c. 1625 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.90

Shown from about the knees up, a woman, baby, and two angels crowd together in a narrow interior space pierced by three window openings. The people all have pale, peachy skin, blond hair, and translucent gold halos, and together they fill most of the space of this vertical painting. To our left, the woman perches on a pillow on a wooden chair as she holds the baby. The scrolling arm of the chair dips down to the seat in the lower left corner of the painting, and the black, scarlet-red, and gold pillow has a silver tassel dangling from the upper corner. The woman’s body is angled to our right, and she turns her head in profile to gaze down past the child with heavy-lidded eyes. Her forest-green cloak is lined with dark material where it turns back down the front. Short, cape-like drapery flutters across her shoulders and is decorated with gold bands along the hem. The cloak is held closed by a gold disk just below the neckline of the red gown underneath, which is belted with a thin gold band above the waist. Her hair is pulled back from her high forehead and is covered by a sheer white veil that frames her face and falls in folds to her shoulders. She steadies the plump baby so he is propped upright on her lap, facing her, with his feet resting on her belly. The baby reaches out to her with his right hand resting on her left shoulder, farther from us, while he turns to look up over his other shoulder, above us. A dove-gray cloth with rose-pink and white stripes is wrapped around his waist and drapes over his legs. To our right, the two angels stand with their bodies facing the child they help support. The angel closer to us turns back to look at or past us with brown eyes. That angel’s robe is rose red with a brighter, scarlet-red collar. The robe falls back to the elbow on the arm closer to us to reveal a cream-colored sleeve patterned with leaf-like strokes of pine green and earth brown. That hand is raised to delicately hold the hem of the baby’s wrap. The one wing we can see is brown and cranberry red, and is cut off by the right edge of the painting. The second angel stands at the back of the little group and looks up and off to our right with silver-gray eyes. That angel wears a pale lavender-gray robe and one hand supports the baby’s bottom. A small, scarlet-red disk is set into the angel’s hair over the forehead. A spray of white lilies angles from between the two angels along the right edge of the panel. The room the group occupies has light gray walls, some tinged with shell pink, and a sapphire-blue ceiling bordered with dark brown wood. A matching sapphire-blue, scalloped half-moon shape is set into the back wall. A garland of chestnut-brown leaves hangs from gold fittings to span the room near the ceiling. Portions of a stone building and watery blue sky are visible through the windows to either side and at the back of the room.
Sandro Botticelli, Madonna and Child with Angels, 1465/1470, oil and tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1943.4.47

Madonna and Child with Angels

Sandro Botticelli · 1465/1470 · oil and tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1943.4.47

Shown from the thighs up, a man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a black suit, cape, and hat, stands with one hand on his hip against an elephant-gray background in this vertical portrait painting. The portrait is loosely painted in some areas, especially in the clothing and background, though the face is more detailed. His body is angled slightly to our right so one shoulder juts toward us, to our left, and he turns his face to look at us brown eyes. One bushy brow is slightly arched. He has a long, bumped nose, soft jowls along his jawline, and perhaps a mole almost lost in shadow on his left cheek, to our right. His wide, pale peach lips are closed and framed by a thin, brushy mustache and a patch of hair under his lower lip. His shoulder-length, wavy, light brown hair curls around his face, and he wears a tall, black hat with a wide brim turned over his right ear, to our left. A hip-length black cloak drapes over a long-sleeved black jacket. A wide, flat, white collar lies across his shoulders and is tied with fluffy tassels that hang on his chest. Streaks of slate-gray suggest horizontal bands next to buttons down the front of his jacket and along the forearms, above white cuffs. He stands with his right arm, to our left, hanging by his side, and he holds the fabric of his cloak in a loose fist. The back of his other hand rests against his left hip, to our right, and a few streaks of parchment brown suggest a glove in that hand. The background is painted with thin, blended areas of gray and peanut brown.
Frans Hals, Portrait of a Gentleman, 1650/1652, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.29

Portrait of a Gentleman

Frans Hals · 1650/1652 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.29

Bibliography

1989

  • Les donateurs du Louvre. Paris, 1989:321