Portrait of a boy as Cupid

Nicolaes Maes’ earliest paintings were biblical and genre subjects informed by the time he spent in Rembrandt’s studio in the early 1650s. From about 1660, however, Maes worked exclusively as a portraitist, first in his native Dordrecht and from 1673 in Amsterdam. Though his first forays into portraiture reflect the influence of the local Dordrecht painters Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp and his son, Aelbert, by the early 1660s Maes became increasingly attune to the innovations of Flemish artists like Anthony van Dyck, as filtered through the works of the fashionable Dutch portraitists Govaert Flinck and Jan Mijtens. As is typical of Maes’ best portraits of the period, the present painting employs subtle harmonies of reds and blues with brilliant brushwork set against a background of carefully modulated earth tones.

We are grateful to Dr. William W. Robinson for endorsing the attribution and suggesting an execution date of 1664-65 following firsthand inspection of the painting.