Jan Albertsz. Rotius Medemblik 1624 - 1666 Hoorn

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Description

Jan Albertsz. Rotius
a portrait of an eight-year old girl, standing three-quarter length, wearing a silver-grey silk dress with coloured ribbons, white lace cuffs and collar, pearl earrings and necklace, standing beside a table covered with a red tablecloth with a wan-li kraak porcelain bowl with grapes, a lemon, an orange and a peach
signed, dated and inscribed with the age of the sitter: AE (in ligature) tatis. 8-/JA (in compendium). Rotius f.-/ 1660
oil on canvas

Provenance

Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Fred. Muller & Co., 20 May 1919, lot 176 (sold for Fl. 1.100);
J. Lek, Brussels;
His sale, Amsterdam, Fred. Muller & Co., 31 March 1925, lot 83 (sold for Fl. 625).

Literature

H.F. Wijnman, Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, vol. VIII, Leiden 1930, p. 1278, no. 24;
B.J.A. Renckens, 'De Hoornse Portretschilder Jan Albertsz. Rotius', in Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, vol. II, 1948-49, pp. 191-2, p. 228, cat. no. 72;
E. de Jongh, 'Grape symbolism in paintings of the 16th and 17th Centuries', in Simiolus, vol. 7, no. 4, 1974, p. 178, reproduced fig. 18.

Catalogue Note

In the second half of the 17th Century Rotius was the most important portrait painter of the Zuiderzee port of Hoorn, where he depicted the local elite, patriciate and militia from 1649 onwards. Although Rotius' militia pieces show a loose and even sketchy style, the conservative Hoorn elite commissioned appropriately more stereotypical portraits of themselves. Those commissioned of their children, such as the present portrait, are more lively and more interesting, both in composition and iconography.

This painting can be compared with two other portraits by Rotius, one of a Girl holding a flower, signed and dated 1663, and another painting of a Girl standing next to a table holding grapes, signed and dated 1665 (see under Literature below: Renckens, pp. 228-9, cat. nos. 74 and 76).

The girl holding the grapes, as can be seen here, is explained by Eddy de Jongh (see Literature below) as a symbol of the personal responsibilty of the sitter for guarding her chastity.