The serious young boy in this portrait turns away from us to gaze into the distance. The artist has signed the picture but he hasn’t named the sitter. Only his age, 11 years old, and the date, 1660, are given. The boy is pale, but the deep brown background, the warm shade and delicate texture of his fur muff and the cloud of feathers in his hat keep the painting from being austere.
Jacob van Oost the Elder was one of the leading artists of seventeenth-century Bruges, much in demand for his sensitive portraits. He visited Rome early in his career and was influenced by Caravaggio’s use of chiaroscuro (strongly contrasted light and shade).
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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