Artwork

Portrait of Aernout van Beeftingh, his Wife Jacoba Maria Boon and their Children

Portrait of Aernout van Beeftingh, his Wife Jacoba Maria Boon and their Children is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Nicolaes Muys. It dates from 1799 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The composition includes a door, carpet, book, high chair, hobby horse, and baby bumper, elements that identify the scene as a middle-class domestic interior.

The painting, completed in 1799 by Nicolaes Muys, portrays the merchant Aernout van Beeftingh together with his wife Jacoba Maria Boon and their children. The composition includes a door, carpet, book, high chair, hobby horse, and baby bumper, elements that identify the scene as a middle-class domestic interior. These details signal a focus on family life and the household’s prosperity.

The presence of a book alongside children’s objects such as a hobby horse underscores the emphasis on education and parental care, while the overall arrangement conveys familial unity and social standing. The work is held in the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Museum collections.

Technique & Style

Executed in 1799 by Nicolaes Muys, this family portrait is an oil painting on a wooden panel support. The work functions as a formal group portrait, depicting a man, woman, and children within a domestic interior. The composition incorporates various household objects and toys, including a book, carpet, high chair, hobby horse, and baby bumper, alongside architectural elements such as a door.

The medium of oil on panel was a standard choice for Dutch portraiture of this era, allowing for the detailed representation of textures and familial attributes seen in the depiction of the sitters and their surroundings.

History & Provenance

Portrait of Aernout van Beeftingh, his Wife Jacoba Maria Boon and their Children was painted by Nicolaes Muys in 1799 using oil on panel. It measures approximately 107 by 105 cm and depicts a family group within a domestic interior. The painting entered the holdings of the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam Museum, where it remains.

No documentary evidence of a specific commission or patron is recorded in the available sources, and the circumstances of its creation are limited to the artist’s dated output in 1799.

Overview

Nicolaes Muys completed this oil painting in 1799, depicting Aernout van Beeftingh, his wife Jacoba Maria Boon, and their children. This large-scale family portrait captures a moment in the lives of a prominent Dutch household at the close of the 18th century. The artwork is currently part of the collection at the Rijksmuseum, where it offers insight into contemporary portraiture and domestic life.