Jan Olis - SOLD to the Gorcums Museum
(Gorinchem, ca. 1610 – Heusden, 1676)
Portrait of a man dressed as a shepherd
Oil on panel
H. 36 cm. W. 28,3 cm.
Provenance
Private collection, the Netherlands
Catalogue note
We are grateful to Mr. Fred Meijer from the RKD, The Hague, for endorsing the authenticity
Jan Olis was a painter of genre scenes, mainly ‘merry companies’ and guardroom scenes (or ‘cortegaerdjes’). Occasionally he painted flower still lifes, kitchen scenes, portraits and historical subjects. After a journey to Rome, he settled in Dordrecht in 1632, where he stayed until 1643. After haveing been active in Rotterdam and The Hague, Olis moved to the town of Heusden in 1651, where he held various local government posts and became burgomaster in 1657. Dated works confirm he was still painting after moving to Heusden, where he lived until his death.
The man depicted in the painting is recognisable as a shepherd, since he is holding a typical shepherd's crook adorned with a iron scoop, known is Dutch as a ‘schepel’.
