Pieter Cornelisz. van Slingelandt - SOLD

Description
 

This small, but graceful oil on panel depicts in great detail a young woman standing in half-length and in three-quarter profile, with her head turned to the left, facing the viewer. The lady wears a brown-red colored satin gown with a low bodice, over a white undergarment and a red skirt. She has her slightly curled brown, hair parted in the middle and tied up in a knot, coiffured in the northern European style of the late seventeenth century. Around her neck she wears a pearl necklace. In her right hand the lady holds a single pink rosebud; her left arm rests gracefully on a stone balustrade. On her right stands a classical white marble statue representing the goddess Flora with a wreath of flowers, symbolizing Spring and hopefulness. The background is formed by an elegant courtyard with a classical building. Three stones lay in front of an arched gateway, flanked by two ionic pillars, with trees and a landscape beyond.

Sitter
 

This superb oil painting is evidently a portrait of a specific individual. With its vibrant palette, this painting tenderly portrays the sitter in her betrothal or marriage portrait. In 1773, the portrait was recorded with a pendant, Portrait of a man with a statue of Mercury (Hofstede de Groot, 1913, no. 146). The identity of the young woman has not been established with certainty (further information can be found under ‘provenance’.)

Date and place within the oeuvre
 

The painting is not dated by the artist. Based on the style of the garments, the RKD (the Dutch Institute for Art History) dates the painting between 1670 and 1675. This date also relates to the building in the background, that demonstrates clear influence of the ‘sober style’ within Dutch classicistic baroque architecture, which was popular in the third quarter of the 17th century. This date also corresponds with the oeuvre of Van Slingelandt, who executed most of his delicate, genre-like portraits in the 1670s. The exquisiteness of the woman's dress, painted with painstaking detail, the balanced composition and the high level of perfection, all support this claim. In addition, this painting compares to several portraits by Van Slingelandt which date back to the 1670s.

Artist
 

Pieter Corneliszoon van Slingelandt was born in the Dutch city of Leiden on the 10th of October, 1640. According to Sluijter, Van Slingelandt was baptized on the 4th of November, 1640, (Sluijter, 1988). Van Singelandt studied with Gerrit Dou (1631-1675), the renowned genre painter of Leiden who ranks among the best pupils of Rembrandt. The high polish of Dou's paintings and their shiny surfaces may reflect his background as glazier. Dou began the Dutch tradition of painting small, precisely detailed paintings, which his best pupil Van Slingelandt carried on with great virtuosity. In the words of Seymour Slive "the secret of Dou's success, and that of his followers [like Van Slingelandt], is the simple pleasure man receives from seeing the world meticulously reproduced in small, with perfect craftsmanship" (Slive, 1977, p. 146). As a prosperous 'fine painter' of mainly portraits and genre painting, prolific draftsman and miniaturist, Van Slingelandt was signed in as a member of Leiden's painters' Guild of St Luke on the 22nd of November, 1661. Van Slingeland served as an officer in the guild in 1684 and 1690 and was elected dean in 1691 (Sluijter, 1988). Like his teacher Dou, Van Slingelandt's style was typified by impeccable draftmanship, strong composition, and high finish. In fact, he almost excelled his master in the finish of his pictures, often losing himself in the details. It took him, for instance, three years to complete a portrait of the Meermans family (presently in Musee du Louvre), and he was known to have spent a month just finishing a ruff. Pieter Cornelisz. van Slingelandt died in Leiden at the 11th of July, 1691.

Provenance
 

What makes this paining unique, is the unusually complete and well documented provenance, of which an overview is given by Hofstede de Groot. He states that this paining was owned by the well-known art collector Johan Aegidiuszn. van der Marck (1701 – 1772), who was Burgomaster of Leiden. After his death, the illustrious collection (comprising The Piebald Horse by Paulus Potter, Pictura by Frans van Mieris the Elder, at present both in the J.P. Getty Collection, The Preaching of John the Baptist by Bartholomeus Breenbergh, presently in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art) was sold at the ‘Oudezijds Herenlogement’ in Amsterdam by De Winter & Yver on 23 August 1773 (Fock, 1983, pp. 24-26). The portrait by Van Slingelandt was lot 299 and was sold with a pendant, Portrait of a man in a robe with a statue of Mercury beyond, for 50 florins to ‘Yver’, presumably Jan Yver, the well known auctioneer and dealer (Hofstede de Groot, 1913, no. 146). It has been suggested that the fact that the painting was in the collection of Van der Marck until its sale in 1773, makes it plausible that the young woman may have been a member of van der Marck’s family. Still, this suggestion is highly speculative, especially since Van der Marck was an important collector of fine art. Later on, the painting was in possession of Jacques Clemens, Canon of St. Bavo, Ghent, Belgium. After his death, the piece was sold in Ghent, on the 21st of June 1779, as lot 260 and obtained by the Van Saceghem family of Ghent. M. van Saceghem sold the painting at Galerie Le Roy by Ettiene Le Roy on 2 June 1851 in Brussels, as lot 78. It was sold for 185 francs to Léord. The painting found its way to the collection of Jean Baptiste Foucart in Valenciennes. After his death the piece was auctioned at Gostieau, Valenciennes, on 12 October 1898, as lot 142. The back side of the panel bears an oval wax seal, inscribed ‘Valenc..nnes, J.B. Foucart, *1898*’, together with a printed description of the painting in French. Here the account of Hofstede de Groot ends. More than a century later, the piece was offered in an anonymous sale by Sotheby's, London on 14 December 2000, as lot 157. Between 2001 and 2003, the piece was in the collection of art dealer Richard Green, London, who exhibited the painting on the TEFAF Maastricht in 2001 and 2003, where it was bought by a private collector.

Associated literature
 

Hecht, P. (1989). De Hollandse fijnschilders: van Gerard Dou tot Adriaen van der Werff. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum), pp. 217-228

Hofstede de Groot, C. (1913). Catalogue raisonné. Vol. 5, London, pp. 420-474

Hollstein F.W.H. (1949/1983). Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts ca. 1450-1700. Vol. 27, Amsterdam (etc.), pp. 85-86

Slive, S. (1977). Dutch Art and Architecture: 1600 to 1800. London, p. 146

Sluijter, E.J. e.a., (1988). Leidse fijnschilders: van Gerrit Dou tot Frans van Mieris de Jonge 1630-1760. Leiden (Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal), pp. 205-213

Wheelock, A.K. & Baer, R. (2000). Garrit Dou 1613-1675: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt. London: Yale University Press, p. 21

Willigen, A. van der & Meijer, F.G. (2003). A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-life Painters Working in Oils, 1525-1725. Leiden, pp. 217-228

Institution
 

Works by Pieter Cornelisz. Van Slingelandt can be found at various important art institutions and museums, among which:

Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, United Kingdom
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlands
The Royal Collection, London, United Kingdom