Portrait of a man in a painted oval
1620
oil
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1620
oil
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Portrait of a man in a painted oval is a 1620 oil by Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen, a Baroque work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
A man in a black silk doublet and white ruff sits against a dark background. His stiff collar frames a serious face with tight lips. The colors stay dark except for his pale skin and white collar. This isn’t just a portrait. The painted oval frame tricks your eye into thinking it’s real wood and plaster. The trompe l'oeil trick makes the frame look carved, not painted. Look up Janssen van Ceulen, Cornelius next.
A young man is depicted in a portrait bust wearing a dark silk doublet and white ruff, set against a dark background within a painted trompe l'oeil oval frame. The attire and hairstyle suggest a date in the first half of the seventeenth century, reflecting the conservative fashion of the Dutch bourgeoisie. The work was previously owned by Prince Rupert and is associated with James Graham, the 5th Earl of Montrose.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Cornelius Janssen van Ceulen painted small, finely detailed portraits in oil during the 1620s–30s, often framing sitters in ovals.
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