The Circle of Anton van Dyck

17th-century Flemish School.
Circle of Anton van Dyck (1599–1641).
"Portrait of Jean Richardot and His Son Claude."
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 109 x 75 cm; 133 x 100 cm (frame)

The piece we are presenting bears a close resemblance to the portrait of “Jean Richardot and His Son Claude” by the master Van Dyck, which is part of the Louvre Museum’s collection (INV 1244). Before delving into the execution of the work, it is important to note that the identities of the subjects have not been confirmed and that they are attributed based on a tradition dating back to the 17th century, due to the labels affixed to the frame and the various provenance records. As early as 1704, it appeared in the inventory of the Parisian collection of Louis Marie Victor, Duke d’Aumont de Rochebaron (1632–1704), listed as a portrait of President Richardot and his son. However, other possibilities have been suggested, such as Jan Woverius (circa 1574/76–circa 1636). This gentleman from Antwerp was an important local figure both for his political ties to Spain and for his roles in government, the economy, and humanism. There are some works by Rubens and Van Dyck that bear a striking resemblance to the model presented here.

As for the authorship of the work we are presenting, it is difficult to determine with certainty, since we are dealing with an early version of Van Dyck’s original work, likely executed as a replica of the Louvre model by a disciple or follower. It is worth noting that the original was painted around 1620, when the master was in his twenties. Around this time, Van Dyck would have been closely associated with Rubens’s studio, and that same year he would begin his first stay in England.

Anton Van Dyck began his training with the renowned painter Van Balen in 1609. From 1615 to 1616, he worked alongside Jordaens, and from 1617 to 1620 with Rubens, who described him as his best student. In 1620, at the age of just twenty-one, he visited England for the first time, in the service of James I. In London, he enjoyed greater freedom and set aside religious painting to devote himself fully to portraiture. Between 1621 and 1627, he completed his training with a trip to Italy, where he was particularly impressed by Bolognese painting and the works of Titian. It was in Italy that he developed his mature, refined, and elegant style, as well as establishing his distinctive portrait style, which became a model for Western painting. In Italy, his reputation as a portraitist was also cemented, and he enjoyed immediate success wherever he worked, painting portraits of Italy’s most prominent noble families, as well as the Pope and several members of the Roman Curia. In 1629, he was back in London, this time working for King Charles I, who admired Titian’s work and saw Van Dyck as his heir. Thus, he dismissed all his other painters, having found in Van Dyck the court painter he had long desired. In 1640, upon Rubens’s death, the painter returned to Antwerp to complete the works Rubens had left unfinished. The following year, he moved to Paris, where he painted the wedding portrait of King William II and Princess Mary. That same year, he returned hastily to London for health reasons and died shortly thereafter at his home in the English capital. Anton van Dyck’s works are represented in major museums around the world, such as the Louvre, the Prado, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the National Gallery and the British Museum in London, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.