Dutch school; end of the 17th century.

Dutch school; late seventeenth century.
"Lady with doves".
Oil on panel.
Presents faults in the frame.
Measurements: 14.5 x 11 cm; 29 x 25 cm (frame).
This work follows the model of the painting entitled Young woman with doves (Venus?), made by the Dutch artist Godfried Schalcken between 1680 and 1685, currently in the collection of the Royal Gallery of Paintings Mauritshuis (The Hague). The work presents a female figure of unconfirmed identity but traditionally associated with the goddess Venus, depicted in a deep reddish tunic over a white garment and adorned with a diadem that accentuates her idealized character. The young woman delicately holds a white dove in her hand while another rises over her shoulder, iconographic resources that refer directly to the classical attributes of Venus as the embodiment of love and beauty.
Born in Made in 1643 and trained in the artistic circles of Dordrecht and later in the workshop of Gerrit Dou in Leiden, Schalcken established himself as one of the main representatives of the fijnschilder tradition of the 17th century, cultivating a style marked by precision, psychological introspection and the masterful use of chiaroscuro. Throughout his career he worked in Holland and England, enjoying recognition in both contexts, before his death in The Hague in 1706. The painting, now in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, is an exemplary synthesis of the artist's technical maturity and his ability to integrate classical iconography into a deeply personal and carefully crafted pictorial language.