Dutch and Flemish Paintings

Deborah Kip, Wife of Sir Balthasar Gerbier, and Her Children

Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens

1629/1630, reworked probably mid 1640s

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1971.18.1

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M43

We look slightly down onto a panorama with dozens of pale-skinned men, women, and children skating and standing on a frozen river in this horizontal landscape painting. Most of the men wear black hats and suits, some with white collars and hip-length capes. The women all wear ankle- or floor-length skirts, and some are covered with black cloaks that drape over their heads to their feet. Many people wear black but some of the clothing is scarlet red, sage green, celestial blue, beige, or slate gray. A few people draw the eye, like the man standing with his back to us, wearing dark gray and holding a tall pole in the lower left corner. To the right, a man kneels to tie a skate with a brown and black dog nearby. A woman wearing a crimson-red skirt and a couple clad entirely in fur-lined black clothing look toward a man and woman riding a horse-drawn sled on the ice, at the lower center of the painting. Another black-draped form in the sleigh could be a second woman wearing a cloak. A pair of boys play a game like hockey in the lower right corner. People gather and skate in pairs and small groups, or ride in sledges into the deep distance. The buildings and boats lining the horizon, which comes about halfway up the composition, are painted in shimmering grays. The sky above is the same cool white as the ice below. A few birds fly across the scene.

A Scene on the Ice

Hendrick Avercamp

c. 1625

Oil on panel Accession ID 1967.3.1

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M44

A nearly nude, muscular man with pale, peachy skin sits in an underground cave among seven male and two female lions in this horizontal painting. The man sits to our right of center with his legs crossed, elbows close to his body with hands clasped by his chest. His head tips back to look up through a small opening above. He has long, wavy, chestnut-brown hair and dark eyes. A white cloth wraps across his hips, and he sits on a scarlet-red swath of fabric draped up over a rock next to him. The nine lions stalk, sit, or lie down around the man. One male lion next to the man, to our left, opens his mouth with his head thrown back, curling tongue extended beyond long fangs. A human skull and other bones are strewn on the dirt ground close to us. The rocky cave curves up around the animals and man to a narrow, round opening showing blue sky above.

Daniel in the Lions' Den

Sir Peter Paul Rubens

c. 1614/1616

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1965.13.1

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M45

Dozens of people stand, skate, play a game like hockey, or ride horse-drawn sleds on a frozen river that winds along a town to our left and into the distance in this nearly square landscape painting. The horizon comes about a quarter of the way up the composition, and the sky above is filled with ivory-white clouds billowing up against a pale blue sky. Some of the men wear tall hats, hip-length capes over jackets, and breeches over stockings, while others are more simply dressed with rounded hats. Several of the women wear wide, pleated, plate-like neck ruffs, fur muffs, and long dresses, while others wear aprons over peanut-brown and muted blue dresses. The scene is alive with activity, including a man looking at us as he balances rakishly on one skate near the lower right corner, and a young girl sitting in a sled and pushing herself along with sticks nearby. The trees lining the snow-covered, riverside path are bare and the village to our left is painted in tones of pale tan and white. In the distance the snowy earth blends into the soft blue sky and fluffy clouds above. The artist signed the work as if he had painted his name and the date on the face of a wooden fence in the lower left corner: “AV DN 1645.”

Winter in Holland: Skating Scene

Aert van der Neer

1645

Oil on panel Accession ID 2014.136.37

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M49

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.

Ascagnes and Lucelle (The Music Lesson)

Jan Steen

1667

Oil on canvas Accession ID 2014.136.45

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M50

A woman, Mary, floats in the sky surrounded by eleven winged angels above fifteen men and women gathered around an open, stone coffin in this vertical painting. All the people have pale, peachy skin. Near the top center of the composition, the woman’s torso twists to our left as her knees turn to our right. She lifts her left hand, to our right, to her chest and her other arm reaches down along her body. She looks up with dark eyes, her head tipped slightly back. She has a round face, a small nose, flushed cheeks, and a heart-shaped, rose-pink mouth. Her long, golden-brown hair falls over the shoulders of her scoop-necked, powder-blue dress. A honey-brown wrap loops over one shoulder and billows up to surround her head and shoulders. A voluminous silver cloth edged with gold flows around her hips, legs, and feet. Seven of the angels gathered near Mary’s feet and legs are baby-like, pudgy children with gossamer-white or smoke-gray wings. Most of these angels are nude but the genitals of two are covered in ivory or golden yellow cloths. Four taller, so presumably older, angels float around Mary’s head and shoulders with two to each side. Two angels to our left, wearing petal pink or butterscotch yellow, hold a ring of leaves up toward her head. The angels to our right wear ruby red or bronze gold, and they look toward Mary with their arms crossed over their chests. The hair and drapery of all of the angels flutter as if in a breeze. Below this group, on the dirt earth, twelve men and three women gather around an open stone coffin set in front of an arched opening leading into a hillside. Some in the group look into the coffin, some look up, and some look toward a man standing to our left. That man has long, chestnut-brown hair and wears a red robe over a white tunic. He looks up at Mary with his head tipped back and raises both hands high, palms facing the scene in the sky. The three women are closest to the coffin, which sits on a two-stepped platform. The woman closest to us kneels on the steps wearing a golden yellow dress. Her white-blond hair has been pulled up and braided. She pulls a pale gray or white cloth from the coffin and holds what could be a small bunch of flowers or leaves in one hand. The other two women have brown hair and stand on the far side of the coffin. Some of the men have beards, and they wear robes in cardinal red, olive green, honey yellow, and tan. A sliver of landscape with water, trees, and a hill is visible in the deep distance to our left, and the sky above is filled with slate-blue clouds. A darker bank of charcoal-gray clouds sweeps around the group in the sky to our right, and bright, yellow rays emanate down from the top center. The scene is loosely painted, especially in the clothing, to create the impression of a sheen on the fabrics.

The Assumption of the Virgin

Anonymous Artist

probably mid 1620s

Oil on panel Accession ID 1961.9.32

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M43

Decius Mus Addressing the Legions

Sir Peter Paul Rubens

probably 1616

Oil on hardboard, transferred from wood and canvas Accession ID 1957.14.2

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M45

More than two dozen rowboats and sailboats bustle around a waterway in this horizontal landscape painting. Beige-colored water gently ripples across the bottom of the composition and extends into the deep distance, where buildings, windmills, and a church line the low horizon. Clouds with warm white tops and cool gray bottoms tower across a pale blue sky, which takes up the top three-quarters of the composition. A few reeds poke out of the water close to us, near the lower right corner of the painting. The row- and sailboats just beyond are packed with people. Two flags fly from the masts of the largest ship, which is to our left of center. One flag has red stripes flanking a white stripe, and the other is striped with red, white, and blue. Two rowboats have pulled up to the grassy shore of a spit of land to our left. A ladder leans against the steep hill rising from the water’s edge, and a cluster of spindly trees lean toward the water from the hillock. The people all wear clothing and hats in tones of brick red, ochre yellow, sable brown, and black. More boats move through the water back to the town and waterways to either side.

View of Dordrecht from the North

Jan van Goyen

early 1650s

Oil on canvas Accession ID 2014.136.34

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M49

A young boy with pale skin and short brown hair, wearing a black and gold jerkin and breeches, white lace collar, and buttercup-yellow stockings, stands facing us with a dog at his heels in this vertical portrait painting. The boy is brightly lit so the area around and behind him are deep in shadow. His body is angled slightly to our right but he turns to look at us with green eyes under faint brows. He has a round face, a short nose, and the corners of his closed, coral-pink lips turn slightly up. His hair is parted in the middle and bangs sweep to each side of his forehead. He stands with his left fist resting on his hip so his elbow juts out. His other arm rests by his side and he holds the dog’s chain-link leash in that hand. The boy's right foot, on our left, points toward us. His close-fitting, belted jacket, breeches, and hip-length cape are embroidered with gold on black. He has a delicate lace collar at his neck, bright yellow stockings on his calves, and brown, round-toed shoes. The chain he holds connects to the collar on the brown and white dog, which could be a puppy. The dog’s collar is lined with large brass bosses like a row of buttons. The dog stands or sits with its front legs straight, and his back end is hidden by the boy’s legs. The background behind the boy is chestnut brown and the room seems to have a wooden floor. The painting is inscribed in black paint near the upper left corner: “Ao 1623 AET. 4. 7.”

Filippo Cattaneo

Sir Anthony van Dyck

1623

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1942.9.93

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M42

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a voluminous, gold-trimmed, white satin gown and a black overdress stands holding a closed fan in this vertical portrait painting. Her body and face are angled to our right, and she looks at us from the corners of her gray eyes. She has pale skin, a straight nose, thin lips, and a slight double chin. Chin-length brown waves frame her face, and the rest of her hair is pulled back. A pearl necklace lies at the base of her neck, though traces of another necklace, originally painted higher up on the neck like a choker, are visible. A lace-edged collar lies along her shoulders, and more lace lines a kerchief tucked into the low, straight neckline of her bodice. The gown’s puffy sleeves are tied around the elbows and end in wide lace-lined cuffs at the wrists. The sleeves and the front and bottom edges of the bodice are lined in glittery gold. A bejeweled gold brooch nestled in black lace is pinned to the front of her gown. A gold chain links the brooch to one side of the bodice before draping across her chest and lying over the other shoulder. A white satin ribbon is tied with a bow around her waist over the black overdress, which has subtle suggestions of a black-on-black pattern down the front. The fan is in her left hand, to our right, perhaps attached to a length of gold chain visible under her wrist. Her other hand rests in the folds of the black overdress. Some brushstrokes are visible in the woman’s clothing and in the walnut-brown background.

Lady with a Fan

Sir Anthony van Dyck

c. 1628

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1957.14.1

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M43

Andries Stilte as a Standard Bearer

Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck

1640

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1998.13.1

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M46

Portrait of a Man in a Wide-Brimmed Hat

Flemish 17th century, Jan Cossiers

early 1630s

Oil on panel Accession ID 1969.2.1

On View: West Building Main Floor, Gallery M46