THEODOR BOEYERMANS | Madonna and Child

Theodor Boeyermans lived in Antwerp and turned to painting later in life, joining the Guild of Saint Luke there in 1654 at the age of thirty four.  Unlike the more expressive painterly output of his contemporaries, he championed the classically refined, idealized, and balanced style of Rubens and Van Dyck.  In this simple and serene composition, rendered with a restrained palette, a softly illuminated Madonna and Child appear against a darkened background locked in a tender embrace.  The elegance of their gestures is further enhanced by the delicately modeled fabric of the Madonna's dress, saturated with Boeyermans' trademark hue of a shimmering silver. We are grateful to Dr. Hans Vlieghe, who has seen the present lot firsthand, for endorsing the attribution.