Artifact World Gallery
Get the iOS app

Portrait of a Boy with a Falcon by Wallerant Vaillant

Wallerant Vaillant · 1660-01-01

This is Wallerant Vaillant's "Portrait of a Boy with a Falcon," painted in 1660 and held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The painting shows a young falconer in a red silk jacket, his bird completely still on his gloved hand. It is the only Vaillant painting in the Met's collection.

Look at the boy's eyes: the gaze is neither wide nor warm. He meets the viewer with a level, practiced calm. Then look at the falcon. Vaillant painted the bird with such precision, barred breast feathers, leather jesses, the tiny bells on its legs, that the portrait doubles as a natural history study. These are not props. They are working equipment, rendered with care.

Wallerant Vaillant was a Dutch Golden Age painter better known in his lifetime for pioneering mezzotint printmaking. His painted portraits are rare, and many remain in private hands. The Met acquired this work long before Vaillant's auction prices began to move. In 2009, another Vaillant portrait of a young sitter sold at Sotheby's Amsterdam for $158,500, a result that recast this quiet painting as a significantly guarded asset.

There is no museum label that tells you what a painting costs. You just notice, over time, which ones watch you back.

Details

Then, in 2009, another Vaillant portrait hit the auction block.
Then, in 2009, another Vaillant portrait hit the auction block.
A young sitter, a calm face, the same steady hand.
A young sitter, a calm face, the same steady hand.
That painting sold for $158,500.
That painting sold for $158,500.
Overnight, this one became a painting they watch.
Overnight, this one became a painting they watch.
The densely worked red-and-gold surface demonstrates Vaillant's ability to render luxury textiles; the costume's cost signals the family's wealth as explicitly as any coat of arms.
The densely worked red-and-gold surface demonstrates Vaillant's ability to render luxury textiles; the costume's cost signals the family's wealth as explicitly as any coat of arms.
Transcript

For years, this was just a quiet Dutch portrait in the Met. Then, in 2009, another Vaillant portrait hit the auction block. A young sitter, a calm face, the same steady hand. That painting sold for $158,500. Overnight, this one became a painting they watch. The boy keeps the numbers to himself.