Portrait of a Girl

Artist: Isaack Luttichuys (Dutch, 1616 - 1673)

Original Dimensions: 29" x 25 1/8"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (About 1650) "A young girl stands by a column and a balustrade, her hair tied back in a chignon, with tendrils hanging down on either side of her face. The girl’s dress dates the picture to the late 1640s. Isaack Luttichuys often painted his sitters against architectural backdrops and at first glance the painting’s style seems to fit with portraits by the artist of the mid-1650s. However, the style of the girl’s dress makes a slightly earlier date more likely. This is also borne out by a fully signed pendant (current whereabouts unknown) of a young boy – no doubt the girl’s little brother – whose style of clothing also suggests an earlier date. Despite the unmistakable facial resemblance, the two paintings had not been recognised as pendants, and recently it was argued that the portrait of the girl is not by Luttichuys. Any doubts on both scores were laid to rest when it transpired that the two pictures were still together in 1834, appearing as pendants at a London auction." - (National Gallery of Art, London)