Interiors & Decorations

Jewellery & Precious Stones

Watches, Pens & Lighters

Fashion

Coins & Stamps

Comics & Animation

Classic Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia

Wine, Whisky & Spirits

Asian & Tribal Art

Trading Cards

Toys & Models

Archaeology & Natural History

Sports

Music, Movies & Cameras

Books & Historical Memorabilia

The finest objects brought to you by {name}

Aude Fonlupt

Very fine and rare pair of Dutch 17th century old master portraits of a husband and wife attributed to Nicolaes Maes

These three-quarter length portraits depict a brunette beauty, seated in an elegant and mysterious park landscape with a fountain to the right. She is smiling coyly at the spectator and wearing a luxurious outfit embellished with a diamond brooches. Her opulent white silk gown and scarf are shimmering beautifully, she completed her outfit with a thick pearl necklace and earrings, which were a highly prized and cherished possession at the time. Her husband is standing to the right and wearing an outfit which echoes the one of his wife; he wears a white shirt with an opulent lace collar underneath a very expensive blue silk frock. The landscapes in the background seem to continue through the portraits, highlighting and emphasising the unity and romantic bond of the couple. This is a composition which can be found in a few portraits which Maes painted of married couples, however during the course of history several of those works got separated, were destroyed or got lost, so as a gallery we are really proud to be able to offer this rare surviving example and as romantic souls, we can't help but be touched that this pair remained together for almost 400 years. If that isn't a testament to lasting love. Another interesting feature is the size of our portraits ca. 70*58cm each, these are exactly the same dimensions as of other portraits by Maes and they are among the larger formats in his oeuvre, which are also rarer. 

The costumes and composition seen in  images 338 and 341 in the artists' catalogue raisonnée, show great similarities with our portraits, which allows us to date our paintings around 1687-1690.

Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693) was one of Rembrandt's most talented pupils. Around the tender age of 15 he left his native Dordrecht to move to Amsterdam to be apprenticed by the great Rembrandt. Until about 1660, Maes mainly painted genre scenes in the style of Rembrandt, with many light-dark contrasts and warm colours. After that, he switched to painting portrait paintings and started developing his own distinctive style; smoothly painted works in which he paid great attention to finely rendering all the details and in which he used bright colors. The combination of his talent and very well received style led to great successes. Maes became a much sought-after and very productive painter of the baroque state portrait. From 1653 to 1673 Maes moved back to Dordrecht and after which he returned for good to Amsterdam. Our painting was most likely created after his return to Amsterdam. 

The canvases each measure ca. 70 by 58 cms and with frame ca. 86 by 75 cms.
There appear to be remnants of a signature along the bottom of the portrait of the wife. 

Provenance: Private collection Belgium

Literature:
Léon Krempel, Studien zu den datierten Gemälden des Nicolaes Maes, Berlin 2000
#tableau23

Oil on canvas - Not signed

Nicolaes Maes (attr.) - Portraits of a married couple

Classical Art

Reserve price

No reserve price

Buy now

Closing date

Monday

today

Sunday

tomorrow

Wednesday

Tuesday

Saturday

2 January

5 January

Budget

From

Location

Italy

Spain

France

The Netherlands

Germany

Belgium

Austria

Liechtenstein

Hungary

Romania

Ukraine

Andorra

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Lithuania

Estonia

Croatia

Poland

Greece

Luxembourg

Malta

Norway

Portugal

Slovenia

Dimensions

Height

Width

Depth

Object

Painting

Drawing

Print

Artwork

Manuscript

Frame

Ex voto

Miniature portrait

Religious objects

Book

Country of origin

Netherlands

Europe

Unknown

Russia

Denmark

Mexico

Peru

Czechia

China

United States

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Material

Wood

Bronze

Condition

Good condition

Excellent condition

Fair condition

Needs restoration

Good

Good condition - used with small signs of aging & blemishes

Fair condition -  heavily used & with possibly minor parts missing

Period

19th century

2020+

1970-1980

1920-1930

1960-1970

18th century

1900-1910

1940-1950

1950-1960

17th century

1930-1940

2010-2020

1980-1990

1910-1920

1990-2000

2000-2010

16th century

15th century

1850-1900

1800-1850

1650-1700

Subject

Landscape

Portrait

Still life

Seascape

Religion

Cityscape

Animals and wildlife

Interior scene

Plants and flowers

Nude

Nature

Winter scene

Mythology

Historical scene

Day scene

Spring scene

Summer scene

Architecture

Autumn scene

Pop Culture

Military and war

Night scene

Famous landmarks

Poetry

Style

Classical

Impressionism

Post-Impressionism

Realism

Baroque

Folk Art

Romanticism

Neo-Impressionism

Expressionism

Hyperrealism

Modern

Contemporary

Renaissance

Art Deco

Symbolism

Surrealism

Art Nouveau

Fauvism

Rococo

Dutch Golden Age

Abstract

Social Realism

Biedermeier

Neo-Romanticism

Caravaggisti

Technique

Oil painting

Mixed media

Watercolour painting

Pastel

Acrylic painting

Charcoal

Tempera

Gouache

Mixed technique

Pencil drawing

Chalk

Etching

Collage

Stencil

Crayon

Lithograph

Oil on canvas

Marouflage

Signature

Hand signed

Not signed

Signed

Plate signed

Dated

Edition

Classical Art

This object is no longer available, but there’s still lots to explore

Nicolaes Maes (attr.) - Portraits of a married couple

Popular in Classical Art

2132 objects

Related collections

Cookies

Classical Art

This object is no longer available, but there’s still lots to explore

Nicolaes Maes (attr.) - Portraits of a married couple

Popular in Classical Art

2132 objects

Related collections