Follower of Anton Van Dyck

Follower of ANTON VAN DYCK (Antwerp, 1599-London, 1641); 18th-19th century.
"Portrait of Jacqueline van Caestre".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 58 x 45 cm; 84 x 72 cm (frame).
The work follows in a direct way the famous model of Portrait of Jacqueline Van Caestre, conserved in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium (Nº 2619), which places this painting within the habitual practice of copy, reinterpretation and diffusion of Flemish prototypes in later times. The portrait, half bust and with a slight twisting of the body, responds to the Baroque ideal of sober elegance: the figure emerges against a neutral background, while the light softly models the face and emphasizes the tactile quality of the fabrics.
From a stylistic point of view, the work reveals traits associated with both Peter Paul Rubens and Van Dyck, which explains the duality of attributions in the historiographical tradition. On the one hand, the fullness of the face, the warmth of the flesh and the chromatic richness refer to Rubens, whose painting is characterized by a denser material and an almost sculptural vitality. On the other hand, the refined attitude of the model, the stylization of the features and the delicacy in the treatment of lace are in line with the language of Van Dyck, who refined the aristocratic portrait towards a more ethereal and courtly elegance.
The ascription to a follower of Van Dyck in the 18th-19th centuries is based on the more restrained execution and a certain loss of the original baroque spontaneity, signs of a late copy or version intended for collection or study. As a genre, the portrait retains its representative function, projecting the dignity and social status of the sitter, but it also evidences the survival and prestige of Flemish models in later European visual culture.