Thomas de Keyser (Netherlands, c1596-1667)


Figure 1.--We note a brilliant, but somewhat enigmatic painting of three brothers (probably painted 1627-32). The boys were Hendrick, Johannes, and Simon. We know that by the Latin inscription on the back. Hendrick was 12 years old and Johannes 6 years. For some reason Simon is unclothed. Art historins express various guesses as to why this. Such depictions were not common, especially with the oldr boys so emacutely clothed. The two older boys wear black outfits. They lwere black, but not plain. We see colorful emroidery. The fashion really came out in the lace and large ruff collars and matching cuffs. Notice the Little Lord Fauntleroy look. The clothing the boys are wearing clearly point to a wealthy family. And de Keyser depicts their clothing in great detil. We can assume that it was a Catholic family by the cross the baby is wearing. Some art critic thinks that the parents wanted that the younger son became a friar. The painting is now at Amsterdam National Museum (Rijksmuseum). The black clothing we see here is interesting. Details about the boys can be found with the Latin script over the baby's head. We are not sure what the bavy is holding.

Thomas de Keyser was born in Amsterdam (c1596). De Keyser's father was the architect and sculptor Hendrik de Keyser. He seems to have a pupil of Cornelis van der Voort. Very little is known about de Keyser, despitte his importance. De Keyser was a brilliant portrait painter, but also worked as an architect. In most countries he would be seen as the greatest portratist of the day and an artist among a short list of the great masters. In was indeed the post popular portatist in the Netherlands for a decade (1620s). Then Rembrandt appeared him and replaced him as the country's most respected portraist. Actually Rembrandt was strongly influenced by his work. And art historians subsequently mistakinglyh attrobuted quite a few of de Keyser's unsigned paintings to Rembrandt. For a time de Keyser had trouble finding commissions. We note a brilliant, but somewhat enigmatic painting of three brothers (probably painted 1627-32). The boys were Hendrick, Johannes, and Simon, but we do not know their family name. We know that by the Latin inscription above the baby's head. Hendrick was 12 years old and Johannes 6 years. For some reason Simon is unclothed. The enscription in Latin reads, "Simon is unclothed because he is spurning all wealth." Perhaps this was a touch of humor. Art historins express various guesses as to why this. Some art critic thinks that the parents wanted for their younger son to become a friar. Such depictions were not common, especially with the older boys so emacuately clothed. The two older boys wear black outfits. They were black, but not plain. We see colorful emroidery. The fashion really came out in the lace and large ruff collars and matching cuffs. Notice the Little Lord Fauntleroy look. The clothing the boys are wearing clearly point to a wealthy family. And de Keyser depicts their clothing in great detil. We can assume that it was a Catholic family by the cross the baby is wearing. The Dutch of course were primarily Calvinist Protestants, byt there were areas that retained their Catholic faith. The painting is now at Amsterdam National Museum (Rijksmuseum). The black clothing we see here is interesting. Actually European fashion influenced by the French were moving toward more colorful clothes. As we see in Keyser's work and that of Rembrandt, black continued to be worn by the Dutch and even more so the conservative Spanish who were waring with the Dutch. It may seem that black was a kind of abandonment of fashion. Actually black was the height of fashion. Black was very expensive to dye correctly. The dyes availble at the time were unstable and often faded to a nasty white-orange or kind of bruised blue. As aresult black was fashionable and expensive. It was often reserved Sunday best wear, special occassions, and court clothing.















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Created: 7:44 AM 11/28/2014
Last updated: 7:44 AM 11/28/2014