Artwork
Young Boy in Profile
Young Boy in Profile is an oil painting by the Baroque artist Judith Leyster. It dates from 1630 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
A young boy looks to the side, his face shown in profile, dressed plainly with a calm, quiet expression. Judith Leyster gives close attention to his face and clothes, and the whole picture has a soft, gentle feel. Oil on panel, 1630.
Subject & Meaning
The fashionable cadenette, or love lock, a braid or tress falling at the left side of the face, similarly signals aristocratic origins.
The painting depicts a boy shown in strict profile, a formal pose that departs from the relaxed attitudes typical of Frans Hals's child subjects and instead aligns with the classicizing trend of the period, which Leyster encountered in Haarlem through Frans de Grebber, Salomon de Bray, and possibly the work of Jan Lievens. Such profile portraits drew inspiration from antique coins, cameos, and medals, though those by her contemporaries were usually tronies or character heads rather than formal likenesses. Arthur K. Wheelock suggested that the boy's distinguished bearing implies membership in a prominent family.
Several costume details reinforce this reading: rather than the flat collar common at the time, he wears a small millstone collar favored at the end of the sixteenth century and still worn at the court in The Hague, while his doublet recalls livery and page attire. The fashionable cadenette, or love lock, a braid or tress falling at the left side of the face, similarly signals aristocratic origins. The work is one of the few true child portraits securely attributed to Leyster, whose other depictions of children are largely genre scenes conveying moralizing messages.
Technique & Style
Young Boy in Profile is executed in oil on panel, a small-scale support measuring approximately 19 by 19 centimeters. The painting departs from the loose, lively brushwork typical of Judith Leyster's usual output and instead adopts a more formal, classicizing approach. Rather than the animated poses found in Frans Hals's child portraits, the boy is shown in a strict profile view, a compositional choice linked to antique coins, cameos, and medals that circulated among Haarlem classicists such as Frans de Grebber and Salomon de Bray.
The sitter wears a small millstone collar rather than the flat collar then in general use, a doublet reminiscent of livery or page costume, and a fashionable cadenette or love lock at the left side of the face, details that contribute to the portrait's restrained, dignified character. The tightly controlled handling and profile format align the work with the classicist current gaining ground in Haarlem around 1630.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1630, the oil-on-panel portrait Young Boy in Profile is attributed to Judith Leyster, though some sources suggest a possible connection to Frans Hals. The work's formal composition and specific attire, including a millstone collar and love lock, reflect influences from Leyster's potential teachers, Frans de Grebber and Salomon de Bray, as well as the classicizing trends of the era. The painting's provenance begins with a private collection in Switzerland.
By at least 1968, it was held by Kunsthandel P. de Boer in Amsterdam before passing to the Newhouse Gallery in New York. Thomas Mellon Evans of New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, purchased the work, and upon his death, it was inherited by his wife, Betty Barton. In 2009, she gifted the panel to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The painting is held in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it is accessioned as a gift from Mrs. Thomas M. Evans in 2009 (inv. no. 2009.36.1). It was previously in a private Swiss collection before appearing with Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, by 1968 and then with the Newhouse Gallery, New York, from which it was acquired by Thomas Mellon Evans. After his death, the work remained with his wife, Betty Barton Evans, until its donation to the National Gallery of Art in 2009.
Overview
This oil painting, titled Young Boy in Profile, was created by Judith Leyster around 1630. Executed on a wooden panel, the work presents a portrait of a young boy. The artist captures the subject's likeness from a side view, focusing on his quiet demeanor. This piece exemplifies Leyster's skill in intimate portraiture during the Dutch Golden Age.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Judith Jans Leyster (also Leijster; baptised July 28, 1609 – February 10, 1660) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, portraits, and still lifes.
