Anthonie Palamedesz. Delft 1601 - 1673 Amsterdam

Sale, London, Sotheby´s, 26 October 1994, lot 123;
With D. Alazraki, New York.

F.K. Laarmann, Families in Beeld, de ontwikkeling van het Noord-Nederlandse familieportret in de eerste helft van de zeventiende eeuw, 2002, pp. 68 (note 272), 91, no.G7;
E. Kolfin, The Young Gentry at Play, Northern Netherlandish scenes of merry companies 1610 – 1645, 2005, p. 269 (note 83).

The authenticity of the present picture has been kindly confirmed by Dr. Elmer Kolfin and Drs. Anita Jansen ( verbal communication ), after inspection of the original. Both Dr. Kolfin and Drs Jansen, who will organise an exhibition on the artist in the Prinsenhof in Delft in 2010, consider it to be a characteristic and fine work for Palamedesz., to be compared with  a similar scene on panel, in the Wallraf–Richartz Museum, Cologne (see H. Vey, A. Kesting, Katalog der Niederländischen Gemälde von 1550 bis 1800 im Wallraf–Richartz–Museum etc., 1967, p. 83, no. 1058, fig. 121 ) and with the picture in the Museum Prinsenhof, Delft and to be dated towards 1635/ 40.

As pointed out by Kolfin (see Literature below, p. 113), Palamedesz., following the success of Dirck Hals in Haarlem, took up the genre of the merry company in an interior in the early 1630s and would continue to paint interpretations of the subject throughout his career. Yet, in contrast to Dirck Hals, Palamedesz companies never loose themselves in exuberance and decadency. His youngsters belong to the refined elite, who restrain themselves in entertainments of conversation and music. A restrained atmosphere of elegance also prevails in the present picture. As usual in merry companies by Palamedesz, the space is relatively deep and the figures are placed in various poses on different planes in the room. A strong light falls in from the left and enhances the subtle tension of the scene, dominated by the richly dressed couple in the foreground. Their relationship is not quite clear. The young, handsome man is obviously a visitor, as he has laid off his cape on a chair in the centre. Maybe he is a suitor, such as in the couple seen in the print by an anonymous engraver after David Vinckboons, in Den Nieuwen Lust – Hof, edited in Amsterdam in 1602 (Idem, p. 205, reproduced fig. 151) or in the couples, seen in the series of the Five Senses by Jan Seanredam after Hendrick Goltzius ( R. Klessman, Die Sprache der Bilder, 1978, pp. 70/1, nos. 10 f – j, reproduced).

Two motivs support this interpretation: that of the page pouring out a drink in the background; a gesture which connects with an emblem and reminds the beholder of modesty and restraint and that of the woman seen from the back playing the virginal, inscribed with the last sentence from psalm 150:6: Omnis Spiritus Laudet Dominis.

As explained by Kolfin (Idem, p. 114), this verse is traditionally interpretated as a hymn of the power of music. In the context of the scene depicted, it may allude to love. The motiv also occurs in Palamedesz  family portrait of circa 1630/5, sold, London, Christie´s,  22 April 1994, lot 5. There, however, it alludes to the harmony between the members of the family, who each hold musical instruments.

All of Palamedesz. merry companies demonstrate this great skill to play with motivs in different contexts. It was this skill which laid at the heart of the success enjoyed by the genre in the 1630s and 40s. With painters such as Willem Duyster, Jan Olis, Dirck Hals, Pieter Codde and Jan Olis, Anthonie Palamedesz belonged to the foremost interpretators of the second generation of specialists in the genre.