Oil painting, 'Portrait of a Man', Netherlandish School, 19th century?

A portrait bust of a man in a black wearing a white ruff

Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce

Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce, 1869
The Reverend Alexander Dyce :
South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks. The Dyce and Forster Collections. With Engravings and Facsimiles. Published for the Committee of Council on Education by Chapman and Hall, Limited, 193, Piccadilly, London. 1880. Chapter I. Biographical Sketch of Mr. Dyce. pp.1-12, including 'Portrait of Mr. Dyce' illustrated opposite p.1.

Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education, South Kensington Museum.A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings... Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce. London, 1874. A 'Note' on page v comments, 'This catalogue refers to the Art portion of the Collection bequeathed to the South Kensington Museum by the Reverend Alexander Dyce, the well-known Shakespearian scholar, who died May 15, 1869'. The Catalogue. Paintings, Miniatures, &c. by Samuel Redgrave notes of the 'Oil Paintings', 'The strength of Mr. Dyce's valuable bequest to Department of Science and Art does not lie in [this] portion ... which is in its nature of a very miscellaneous character. The collection was made apparently as objects offered themselves, and without any special design.' Dyce's main interest was in literary subjects, and this is reflected in many of the paintings he bequeathed to the V&A.

Historical significance: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and diplomat. He was the most versatile and influential Baroque artist of northern Europe in the 17th century. An educated and urbane member of the Antwerp patriciate, he was employed by the rulers of the southern Netherlands as their ambassador and became painter to the courts of Europe. Apart from his paintings—which included altarpieces, history and mythological scenes, portraits and landscapes—he designed tapestries, book illustrations and pageant decorations, as well as his own house and small items of sculpture and metalwork. His numerous pupils and assistants included Anthony van Dyck. Rubens’s style was overwhelming and few contemporary artists withstood its influence; later generations of often very diverse artists derived much from his art. Dyce.60 is one of at least three copies after of a male portrait attributed to Peter Paul Rubens ca. 1620-30 (sitter and current location unknown). There was a version of almost exact dimensions sold at auction in Amsterdam (21-11-1933) and documented in the Wagner Collection, Geneva, 1954. The highest quality version, possibly a seventeenth century work by Rubens himself, was sold in 1938 at Asscher & Welker in London as a Anthony van Dyck. Dr. Rudy Ekkart [verbal communication, February 2010] suggested that all subsequent versions are copied after this work. The two other versions are substantially larger and were both sold at auction in London in the 1930s. While Dyce. 60 clearly represents the same sitter as the above mentioned portraits and the technique imitates the master's style, the thick brushwork and impasto is unlike Rubens' softer and more refined painterly style of the 1620s. Dyce. 60 appears rather to be a 19th copy after the original.

Dutch and Flemish portraits developed significantly during the second half of the 17th century. Individual portraits moved from being primarily intimate works preserved within private settings into more public objects which were positioned more visibly within the domestic interior. A great majority of these were commissioned by well-to-do citizens, whether prosperous merchants and professionals, or members of the city patriciates. The particular portrait type that Ter Borch created in Deventer little spread elsewhere and in Amsterdam and western Dutch cities, an alternative portrait type flourished, following the trend developed by Rubens' student Van Dyck, originated at the English court and later adapted to Dutch needs.

This is one of at least three copies made after of a male portrait attributed Peter Paul Rubens ca. 1620-30.

A portrait bust of a man in a black wearing a white ruff. Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and diplomat. He was the most versatile and influential Baroque artist of northern Europe in the 17th century. An educated and urbane member of the Antwerp patriciate, he was employed by the rulers of the southern Netherlands as their ambassador and became painter to the courts of Europe. His numerous pupils and assistants included Anthony van Dyck. Rubens’s style was overwhelming and few contemporary artists withstood its influence; later generations of often very diverse artists derived much from his art. Dyce.60 is one of at least three copies after of a male portrait attributed to Peter Paul Rubens ca. 1620-30 (sitter and current location unknown). While Dyce. 60 clearly represents the same sitter as the above mentioned portraits and the technique imitates the master's style, the thick brushwork and impasto is unlike Rubens' softer and more refined painterly style of the 1620s. Dyce. 60 appears rather to be a 19th copy after the original.

DYCE.60