JAN VAN RAVESTEYN (The Hague (?) c. 1572 – The Hague 1657)
Portrait of a Lady in a Painted Oval
oil on canvas
32 ¼ x 27 inches ( 82 x 68.8 cm.)
Jan van Ravesteyn’s father Anthonie van Ravesteyn was a glass painter who lived in Culemborg in 1593. Van Ravesteyn joined the painters’ guild in The Hague in 1598, the same year his younger brother Anthony became an apprentice. In 1604 he married Anna Arents van Berendrecht. They had at least three children, and their daughter Maria married the Hague portrait painter Adriaen Hanneman in 1640. Mainly between 1612 – 1624 Ravesteyn had a dozen pupils. In 1656 at the age of 84 he left the guild to become a founding member of the rival confraternity, Pictura.[1]
His entire output was devoted to portraiture. It is unknown who Ravesteyn studied under but the influence of Pieter Pietersz is certainly a factor in his work.[2] Further in evidence is the impact of Michiel van Miereveld’s portraits on Ravesteyn, although “Van Ravesteyn’s approach to portraiture was more fluid and more flattering than Van Miereveld’s.”[3] His clientele was drawn from the upper echelons of Hague society. After 1641 he seems to have stopped production all together.[4]
Works by Van Ravesteyn formed part of the permanent collections of museums in: Amsterdam, Apeldoorn, Berlin, Cleveland, Copenhagen, Culemborg, Dordrecht, Gorinchem, The Hague, Honolulu, Kassel, Leiden, Saint Petersburg, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, and Utrecht among others.
Dr. Rudi E. O. Ekkart has confirmed that this painting as well as an identical image of the same sitter signed with monogram, dated 1634, inscribed with the sitter’s age of 43, painted on panel in a slightly smaller format (see RKD image Jan van Ravesteyn no. 150199) are both by Jan van Ravesteyn.[5] It is not uncommon for more than one version of the same sitter to have been commissioned from an artist, as it could be intended for different members of an extended family or to be hung in different family residences.
Consisting of the finest lace, linen, jewels and cloth money could buy, our sitter’s magnificent ensemble defines her station in life. It is also the cutting edge of fashion for 1634. Her hair is styled to fall over the diadem cap of fine linen trimmed with lace. A black onyx pin adorns her hair, with a pearl drop earring visible as well as a pearl choker. Her dress is black with puffed sleeves under the tied-on oversleeves with lace cuffs, that match the lace edge of her décolleté above the stomacher. A double gold chain hangs from her shoulders, and gold buttons run down her front. Completing the outfit is the confection of a two-tier millstone ruff tilted forward to highlight her face.[6] Van Ravesteyn who was renowned for the strong plasticity of his sitters’ faces[7] in the midst of this finery endearingly presents a sensitive woman who shyly engages the viewer.
[1] Biographical information taken from Ariane van Suchtelen, “Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn” in Dawn of the Golden Age, Northern Netherlandish Art 1580 – 1620, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1993, p. 314; Walter Liedtke, “Jan van Ravesteyn” in Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2007, p. 543; and “Jan van Ravesteyn” on rkd.nl (RKD Explore) website.
[2] Ariane van Suchtelen, op.cit., p. 314; and Walter Liedtke, op.cit., p. 543.
[3] Walter Liedtke, op.cit., p. 543.
[4] Ariane van Suchtelen, op.cit., p. 314; and Walter Liedtke, op.cit., p. 543.
[5] Written communication from Dr. Rudolf E. O. Ekkart dated June 19, 2022, based on high-resolution emailed images.
[6] Frithjof van Thienen, The Great Age of Holland 1600 – 1660, George G. Harrop and Company LTD, London, 1951, pp. 22, 25.
[7] Walter TH Kloek, “Northern Netherlandish Art 1580 – 1620” in Dawn of the Golden Age, op.cit., p.33