Description
This painting belongs to a series of portraits representing the five senses and each depicting a daughter of a wealthy family from Amsterdam. This portrait of 11-year-old Elizabeth Spiegel, who holds a recorder in her hands, represents the sense of hearing. Her gown of costly satin and pearl ornaments proclaims her family's prosperity, and the imported ostrich feathers from Africa indicate Amsterdam's role as an international trade center.
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio (1975-); Noah L. [1918-1980] and Muriel S. Butkin [1915-1998], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (c. 1972-1975); (Art dealer, United States, probably sold to Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin) 1 (1972); (Sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Nov. 3, 1972, no. 38, sold to an American art dealer) (1972); Estate of private collector, consigned to Sotheby Parke Bernet (Until 1972); Private collection (After 1916-by 1972); (M. Knoedler & Co., New York, probably sold to a private collector) 1 (After 1916); J.T. or J.F. Drake 1 (1916-); (Sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, April 3-5, 1916, no. 152, illus. p. 42, sold to J.T. or J.F. Drake) 1 (1916); William Macbeth, New York, consigned to the Anderson Galleries 1 (1895-1916); J.L. Muyser or possibly another private collector, Holland 1 (1883-1895); (Royer-Kerst and Muyser sale, Nahuys-Hodgson, Amsterdam, Nov. 14, 1883, no. 142, MS addition to sales catalogue by Victor Stuers) (1883); M. Muyser, The Hague 1 (Until 1883)
Accession Number
1975.81
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
Framed: 80.6 x 68.3 x 3.9 cm (31 3/4 x 26 7/8 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 62.7 x 49.5 cm (24 11/16 x 19 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Dutch
Background & Context
Background Story
Dirck Dircksz. Santvoort (1610-1680) was a Dutch painter known for the precisely observed portraits that make him one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age in Amsterdam. Portrait of Elizabeth Spiegel from 1639 depicts a woman in the precisely observed, elegant manner that distinguishes Santvoort's best portraits from the more general portrait painting of his contemporaries. The 1639 date places this in Santvoort's most productive period, when he was producing the precisely observed, elegant portraits that are his most accomplished works, and the Spiegel subject shows his talent for depicting the refined appearance of Amsterdam's prosperous citizens.
Cultural Impact
Portrait of Elizabeth Spiegel is important in the history of Dutch portrait painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, elegant manner that Santvoort brought to portrait painting as one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age in Amsterdam. Santvoort's precisely observed, elegant portraits—depicting the refined appearance of Amsterdam's prosperous citizens with the precise observation and elegant composition that are his most distinctive contributions—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Dutch portrait painting, and the 1639 portrait shows this tradition at its most precisely observed.
Why It Matters
Portrait of Elizabeth Spiegel is Santvoort's precisely observed Dutch portrait: the portrait of an Amsterdam woman rendered in the elegant manner of one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age. The 1639 portrait shows the precise observation and elegant composition that make Santvoort one of the most accomplished portrait painters in Amsterdam.
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