Mattheus Terwesten (The Hague, 1670 - 1757)
Portrait of a maiden with palette and brushes, as an allegory of the art of painting
Oil on canvas (160 x 91 cm. - In frame 178 x 107 cm.)
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This splendid painting, of remarkable scenographic impact, shows us a captivating female figure portrayed full-length and life-size, a young maiden easily identifiable as the allegory of the Art of Painting.
A bunch of brushes she holds in her hands and her palette are the symbols that allude to the role of personification of the noble art of painting, along with the large canvas at her side.
The fascinating woman, wearing a dress whose play of transparencies allows glimpses of her breasts, appears complete in her delicate femininity but at the same time solid and monumental.
Her gaze is lost, directed towards the viewer, and the facial features are enhanced by the light that softly highlights the delicate complexion, giving her, along with the intense red drapery that encircles her body, an air of suspended and seductive charm.
The analysis of the canvas allows us to attribute it to the hand of Mattheus Terwesten (The Hague 1670 - 1757), a painter of Flemish origins but who, thanks to his trip to Italy, between Rome (from 1675 to 1677) and Venice, developed the salient characteristics of his painting by studying the works of Veronese and Tintoretto.
The composition is indebted to Venetian painting, both for the theme treated (Titian and Veronese repeatedly depicted female figures of an allegorical nature), and for the style.
Its compositional clarity, full of lightness and grace, combined with the attention to light and the luminous chromatic elegance that invests the figure, are in fact elements that particularly characterize his early work, and which we find in our portrait.
We can make convincing comparisons with some of Terwesten's works:
- Mattheus Terwesten, Allegory of Freedom, dated 1701, Rijksmuseum https://rkd.nl/images/284250
- Mattheus Terwesten, Allegory of Peace, Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis https://rkd.nl/images/4021
- Mattheus Terwesten, Allegory of Peace, Private Collection https://rkd.nl/images/103272
- Mattheus Terwesten, Allegory of Peace, Museum Vlaardingen, https://rkd.nl/images/102139
- Augustinus and Mattheus Terwesten, Dido on the Throne with Servants, Museum de Fundatie https://www.museumdefundatie.nl/en/18th-century-terwestens-back-at-kasteel-het-nijenhuis/
- Mattheus Terwesten, Allegorical scene depicting peace and prosperity, 1742 Foundation Stichting Snouck van Loosen https://rkd.nl/images/59770
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The painting is sold complete with a pleasant gilded frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.
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