Lady and Gentleman on Horseback
c. 1655, reworked 1660/1665
Artist, Dutch, 1620 - 1691
This large double portrait on horseback is unusual in Dutch art, because equestrian likenesses were initially reserved for sitting monarchs. Traditional portrait convention would have placed the woman to the left and slightly behind the man, yet this elegant lady on her magnificent steed occupies center stage. The identity of the sitters has not been confirmed, but the woman’s prominence indicates her high socioeconomic status. It has been suggested that this double portrait was commissioned in 1654 to celebrate the marriage of Adriaen Stevensz Snouck with Erkenraad Matthisdr Berk, daughter of Aelbert Cuyp’s patron Matthijs Berk, who served as Dordrecht’s chief representative in the States General.
Cuyp originally included a larger hunting party, but then reworked and simplified the composition and modified the two figures. The burdock plants at the left, for instance, conceal several dogs under the overpaint. The man originally wore a bright red military-style tunic and cloak, plus a hat atop his shorter hair, while the woman’s shoulders used to be covered with a plain flat collar. The more refined attire of the woman’s costume points to the shift away from sober black toward the more opulent French style that became fashionable in about 1660. The imaginary background recalls the castles and monasteries that Cuyp had sketched during an earlier trip up the Rhine river valley into Germany.
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 123 x 172 cm (48 7/16 x 67 11/16 in.)
framed: 164.8 x 214 x 16.2 cm (64 7/8 x 84 1/4 x 6 3/8 in.) -
Accession
1942.9.15
More About this Artwork
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(Thomas Emmerson [c. 1776-1855], London) before 1834.[1] purchased through Henry Artaria by Edmund Higginson [1802-1871], Saltmarshe Castle, near Bromyard, Herefordshire, before 1842;[2] (his sale, Christie & Manson, London, 4 June 1846, no. 212, as The Departure for the Chase, bought in); (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 16 June 1860, no. 34, as The Departure for the Chase); (Charles J. Nieuwenhuys, Brussels and London). Adrian John Hope [1811-1863], London; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 30 June 1894, no. 22, as Grand Landscape); (Charles J. Wertheimer, London). (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris); sold 1894 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[3] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] John Smith describes the painting as “formerly in the possession of Thomas Emmerson, Esq.” (John Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, 9 vols., London, 1829–1842: 5[1834]: no. 177). Emmerson was apparently a dealer and collector, and the first auction of paintings in which he was the only seller took place in London in 1829. There were several other sales of paintings in his possession, from the 1830s through the 1850s, but the Gallery’s painting has not been found in any of the catalogues.
[2] John Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, 9 vols., London, 1829–1842: 9(1842):664.
[3] Widener Collection records, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
2001
Aelbert Cuyp, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The National Gallery, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2001-2002, no. 40, repro.
Bibliography
1829
Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 5(1834):334, no. 177; 9(1842):664, no. 48.
1885
_ Catalogue of Paintings Forming the Collection of P.A.B. Widener, Ashbourne, near Philadelphia_. 2 vols. Paris, 1885-1900: 2(1900):142.
1894
Richter, Jean Paul. "Versteigerung der Adrian Hope-Sammlung in London." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 17 (June 1894): 331.
1898
Sedelmeyer, Charles. Illustrated Catalogue of 300 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English schools, being some of the principal pictures which have at various time formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery. Paris, 1898: 18-19, no. 9.
1907
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols. Esslingen and Paris, 1907-1928: 2(1908):174, no. 618.
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 2(1909):183-184, no. 618.
1913
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the collection of P. A. B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch & Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, repro.
1914
Sedelmeyer, Charles. Hundred masterpieces. A selection from the pictures by old masters which form or have formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery. Paris, 1914: 6, no. 1, repro.
1923
Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.
1927
Staatliche Gemäldegalerie. Katalog der Staatlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Dresden. 11th ed. Dresden, 1927: 571.
1930
Holmes, Jerrold. "The Cuyps in America." Art in America 18, no. 4 (June 1930): 168, 181, 185, no. 35.
1931
Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 36, repro.
1942
National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 5.
1948
National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 56, repro.
1953
Reiss, Stephen. "Aelbert Cuyp." The Burlington Magazine 95, no. 599 (February 1953): 45, pl. 14.
1965
National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 35.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 28, repro.
1974
Broos, Ben P. J. "Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Pole and His Horse." Simiolus 7, no. 4 (1974): 198 n. 9.
1975
Reiss, Stephen. Aelbert Cuyp. Boston, 1975: 165, no. 124, repro.
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 90, repro.
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 298-299, color repro.
1979
Dumas, Charles. In het Zadel: het Nederlands Ruiterportret van 1550-1900. Exh. cat. Fries Museum, Leeuwarden; Noordbrabants Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch; Provinciaal Museum van Drenthe, Assen. 's-Hertogenbosch, 1979: 104-105, no. 69, repro.
1984
Wright, Christopher. Catalogue of Old Master Paintings from a Private Collection in the United States. Bradford and London, 1984: 12, 27.
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 298, no. 397, color repro.
1985
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 110, repro.
1986
Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 306.
1992
Chong, Alan. "Aelbert Cuyp and the Meanings of Landscape." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1992: no. 148.
1995
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 50-56, color repro. 53.
2001
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Aelbert Cuyp. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; National Gallery, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Washington, 2001: no. 40, 172-175, 207, repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 189, no. 150, color repro.
2016
Van Eikema Hommes, Margriet, Ruud Lambour, Bianca M. Du Mortier, Marieke de Winkel, Gwen Taurer, Matthias Alfeld, Koen Janssens, and Joris Dik. "The Hidden Youth of Dirck Jacobsz Leeuw: A Portrait of Govert Flinck Revealed." The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 64, no. 1 (2016): 27, fig. 26, 56 n. 67.
Inscriptions
lower left: A.Cuijp.
Wikidata ID
Q20177394