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Lot Essay
This recently discovered painting of 1618 by Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy is his earliest dated portrait. The artist is thought to have begun painting portraits between 1610 and 1620, but until now his earliest dated painting was that of 1619, Dr. Sebastiaen Egbertz de Vrij's Osteological Presentation, in Amsterdam Museum.
Pickenoy was the son of Elias Claesz. Pickenoy, an armorial stonemason who came to Amsterdam from Antwerp. Stylistic evidence suggests that Nicolaes was trained by Cornelis van der Voort, also of Antwerp, who was the leading portraitist in Amsterdam in the earlier 17th Century. He soon established himself as one of the genre's foremost practitioners, enjoying the patronage of Amsterdam's patrician families.
We are grateful to prof. dr. Rudi Ekkart for confirming the attribution, on the basis of photographs.
He suggests that the sitter may well have been a young Amsterdam lady of Flemish origin, as the high shape of her collar is more typical for Flanders than for the Northern Netherlands.
Pickenoy was the son of Elias Claesz. Pickenoy, an armorial stonemason who came to Amsterdam from Antwerp. Stylistic evidence suggests that Nicolaes was trained by Cornelis van der Voort, also of Antwerp, who was the leading portraitist in Amsterdam in the earlier 17th Century. He soon established himself as one of the genre's foremost practitioners, enjoying the patronage of Amsterdam's patrician families.
We are grateful to prof. dr. Rudi Ekkart for confirming the attribution, on the basis of photographs.
He suggests that the sitter may well have been a young Amsterdam lady of Flemish origin, as the high shape of her collar is more typical for Flanders than for the Northern Netherlands.