Family Portrait
1665
oil
From the collection of Mauritshuis
1665
oil
From the collection of Mauritshuis
This painting, "Family Portrait," shows a large family gathered in a room. The family members are dressed in 17th-century clothing, with the men wearing hats and the women wearing long dresses. The room is decorated with a large painting above a fireplace and several smaller paintings on the wall. The family is arranged around a table with a white cloth, and some of them are holding objects such as a book or a glass. The atmosphere appears to be formal, with the family members looking directly at the viewer. The painting is a good example of the use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of volume and depth. To learn more about this technique, look up chiaroscuro.
