Gerrit van Honthorst

Purchased by the father of the present owner in the 1920's.

Painting is unlined. Stretcher leaves an impression down all sides and center of the composition. Overall painting presents a strong image with good coloration and detailing. No major losses to paint visible to naked eye, although there are scattered discolored retouches to flesh tones, most noticeable in chin and neck of child to right. . Painting is slightly dirty, apparent more so on the lighter flesh tones of the figures. Painting could benefit nicely from a light cleaning. U.V. light confirms overall good condition with very few, minor retouches applied throughout. U.V. also shows a rather thick varnish that appears hazy under U.V., and is somewhat yellow in certain areas around face of standing left child, and torso of child standing to the right. With addressing to old retouches, painting is quite recommendable. In a carved giltwood with a loss on the upper left corner.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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The elegance with which this charming representation of children amongst a sumptuous display of fruit with a docile jaguar was executed suggests that it was a commissioned work, conceived as an allegorical portrait.  Signed and dated 1649, it is entirely consistent with other images of young children, sometimes as putti from this period, specifically those commissioned from Honthorst by the Court of the Stadholder, or that of the Winter Queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth Stuart. For example, the modeling of the face and the fleshiness of the young boy's cheeks in the Portrait of Hendrik Lodewijk van Nassau-Orange, now in Sanssouci, Potsdam (inv. no. GK I 1574)¹ recalls that of the youngest sitter in the present picture, who rests in the lower left hand corner of the composition.

By the early 1630s, Honthorst was firmly established in the courtly circles of The Hague. In 1637, presumably due to his increasing work for the House of Orange Nassau, he moved to The Hague, becoming Dean of the Guild of St. Luke in 1640. Members of the court, perhaps most influentially the Stadholder, Frederik Hendrik, and the exiled King and Queen of Bohemia, favored the mythological themes so popular in Dutch painting circa 1635-1650. Honthorst painted a number of similar compositions depicting putti or young, identifiable children in Arcadian settings, which is not surprising, given the fact that these families were Honthorst's most important patrons.² Other comparable examples include Sophie, Princess Palatine, as an Angel (whereabouts unknown) and Possibly Hieronymous and Frederik Adolf van Tuyll van Serooskerke (1641, The Hague, Graven Van Bylandt-Stichting).

 

1.  J.R. Judson and R.E.O. Ekkart, Gerrit van Honthorst, The Netherlands 1999, p. 253, cat.no. 323, reproduced, fig. 210.
2. Ibid. 37