Franz Luyckx
(Antwerp 1604 – Vienna 1668)

Portrait of an Aristocrat

oil on canvas

85×59 inches (216×150 cm.)

PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, Connecticut

The attribution to Luyckx can be corroborated by the general composition of the painting. It is very typical for Luyckx to put his model in an overwhelming context. Luyckx is a master in drawing sharp silhouettes. The contours of his figures are extremely refined and in the rendering of the details he manifestly illustrates that he also was an excellent draughtsman. The gestures of his models always are rather demonstrative, even theatrical, as the pointing index finger of the right hand of the man in the portrait illustrates. However, as a portrait painter he succeeds from time to time in bringing his sitters to life, as is the case here. Thanks to his ‘body language’ the proudly posing man offers the impression of being eloquent; although he speaks, we cannot hear him. In baroque portraiture perception really becomes reality and Luyckx did know this. As an artist he was aware of what the function of the ‘portrait gallery’ was going to be. This kind of portrait had to be exhibited above eye-level which offers a feeling of psychic superiority to the model on the wall. From within the frame he looks down upon the eventual passerbys. For ‘Stage-reasons’, the full-length pose shows the man even taller than he was in reality.

A broadly rendered, vibrating décor is really typical for Luyckx’s rendering of the genre. The bravura of the diagonally spanned drapery as well as the floating contours of his cape deliver a dynamic effect to the model. The sketchy technique used for the execution of the background enforces the momentary effect of the scene. The execution of the head and the costume is much more refined. The handling of the face is very smooth and sculptural while the rendering of the clothing seems to be more descriptive. The expensive lace of the collar and the cuffs contrast with the stiff surface of the brocade of the jacket and the silk of the sleeves. His outfit, the column, the balcony as well as the drapery must reinforce the aristocratic appearance. The fact that the man is wearing a dagger and the presence of the coat of arms (too many suggestions for identification can be done on the basis of the rather unspecific heraldic information available) does indicate that he must have been an honourable or even aristocratic member of society. In Luyckx’s portraits, the sitter nearly always looks out of the painting and seeks to obtain eye contact with the virtual onlooker. The man is posing and extremely aware of the presence of other respectable members of society.

The rather heavy colours of the background contrast with the black and white outfit of the posing protagonist in such a way that his colouring even leaves a rather ‘modernist’ impression. In his time Luyckx was very much appreciated as a painter of the upper class. As an artist he was able to put the self-flattering character of powerful and wealthy people into evidence. The fact that he himself was ennobled and that he received the permission to add ‘von Luxenstein’ to his name indicates that his social ambition was impressive and that he succeeded to integrate into the Vienna aristocracy. Just as Anthony van Dyck some five to ten years earlier in London, Frans Luyckx von Luxenstein became ‘one of them’ in Vienna.

Many points for comparison within Luyckx’s oeuvre are to be seen in the portrait gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv.nrs. 689, 1732, 2754, 3163, 3185, 4508, 7150, 9425) and also in the collection of the Prado in Madrid (inv.nrs. T. 963, 1267, 1272, 2871, 2441). His style was as Flemish as it was international. His education in Antwerp and his contacts with the workshop of P.P. Rubens, made an excellent craftsman out of him. Since he became a master there in 1620 he travelled a lot in order to become familiar with the Italian (he stayed in Rome in 1635), Austrian and Spanish tradition. He developed a European style with an anecdotical touch that was mainly appreciated in the court environment. The costume of the model makes a date circa 1635/45 possible. At that moment Luyckx mainly was active in Vienna where he became the court painter of Emperor Ferdinand III and from 1657 onwards of Emperor Leopold I. Around the middle of the seventeenth century he also received a lot of commissions from Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, an important Maecenas with a preference for Flemish painting. The prestigious setting of the portrait as well as its scale fits more adequately in a court context than in the domestic entourage of Antwerp citizens. This portrait by Frans Luyckx breathes a ‘Hofstil’ in any aspect. It can be seen as one of the most vivid and enchanting portrayals of Luyckx’s repertoire.

—Katlijne Van der Stighelen

This painting will be included in Katlijne Van der Stighelen’s forthcoming book on Flemish Portraiture (1500 – 1900).

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