Little boy in a fancy costume

After Govaert Flinck (1633)
Oil on gessoed wood panel, framed

Measures without frame are 21x27 cm

Location of the original:
The Wallace Collection, London

Comes in a wood coffer clad with antique blue velvet:

This small panel painting is a 'tronie', the Dutch term for a painting of a single figure in a head- or half-length format. This type of painting was developed by Rembrandt and Jan Lievens in their Leiden studio and was often painted by their pupils at an advanced stage of their training, probably as an exercise in portrait painting. Studio models (often relatives of the master or members of his household) were posed in fanciful costume. The sitter of the present picture recurs in other 'tronies' associated with Rembrandt's studio. He wears a pearl earring, a plumed red velvet hat and a gold-embroidered maroon cloak over a blue-grey tunic.

Tronies became popular with Rembrandt's clients. Bearing a false Rembrandt signature and date (1633), this painting may be by Rembrandt's pupil Govaert Flinck (1615-60), when he was working in Amsterdam in about 1636.

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