Jacob Adriaensz. Backer

With Galerie Ratton-Ladrière, Paris, 1996;

Subsequently acquired by the present owner.

Amsterdam, Rembrandthuis and Aix-la-Chapelle, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Jacob Backer (1608/9–1651), 29 November 2008 – 22 February 2009 and 11 March – 7 June 2009, no. 30.

J. van der Veen, in Jacob Backer (1608/9–1651), E. de Heer and P. van den Brink (eds), exh. cat., Zwolle 2008, p. 154, no. 30, reproduced in colour p. 155 and frontispiece (detail);

P. van den Brink, in Jacob Backer (1608/9–1651), E. de Heer and P. van den Brink (eds), exh. cat., Zwolle 2008, p. 246, no. A119, reproduced. 

This commanding sitter, though he remains unidentified, was certainly a man of means: his fashionable attire – the lavish gold brocade of his doublet, his crisp white lace collar, and the hat, glimpsed toward the right – assert his status and affluence. First brought to public attention in 2008, at the Jacob Backer (1608/09–1651) exhibition, this elegant likeness of an unknown gentleman is an important addition to the artist’s late œuvre and should be regarded among the finest examples of his portraiture.

Jacob Backer most likely trained first in Amsterdam, possibly with Jacob Pynas (1581–1631), before resettling in Leeuwarden, Friesland, in 1626. Here he studied alongside his contemporary, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660), in the workshop of the history painter, Lambert Jacobsz. (c. 1592–1637). By 1633, Backer had returned to Amsterdam – from this period onwards, he executed important commissions for the upper echelons of society, comprising historical and religious subjects, as well as individual portraits of esteemed sitters and group portraits for Amsterdam institutions.

Jaap van der Veen dates the portrait to circa 1647, the apogee of Backer’s career.² It shares distinct characteristics with other known portraits by the artist from the late 1640s. Firstly, in its colouring: the sumptuosity of the red velvet curtain and the radiance of the gold brocade of the sitter’s sleeve represent a shift away from the sombre, almost monochromatic portraits of the previous decade. The delicate lace trim of the collar here, for example, is comparable to that in the Portrait of Abraham Velters (1603–1690), datable to circa 1634, which holds the record for any work by Backer ever to come to auction;¹ but the colouring in this portrait is far richer than the sober palette of greys and browns in the earlier portrait. Secondly, the sitter’s lips, very slightly parted, and his hand, gesturing perhaps toward his hat, imbue the painting with a quiet dynamism, absent from his earlier portraits. Furthermore, the framing of the composition with the curtain and the balustrade occurs in other contemporary paintings, such as Backer's Portrait of Adriaen van Ginderdeuren, dated 1647,³ Portrait of a man, dated to circa 1650, in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel,⁴ and Portrait of a woman, painted circa 1647, in the J. Paul Getty Museum.⁵

The sitter’s pose also bears a relationship to Backer’s Portrait of Bartholomeus Breenbergh, particularly in the gesture of his right hand.⁶ This painting has a pendant, Portrait of Rebecca Schellingwou , Breenbergh’s wife,⁷ and the pair is one of several Backer painted to commemorate marriages. The present portrait may have been commissioned similarly, as part of a pair – the sitter’s torso is inclined to his left and one hand gestures openly into the space beside him. His left hand holds his right glove, a token of betrothal, perhaps awaiting the rediscovery of his lost love. 

¹ Anonymous sale (‘The Property of a Lady’), London, Christie’s, 3 July 2012, lot 6, for £481,250.

² Van der Veen 2008, p. 154.

³ Stichting Occo-Hofje, Amsterdam, inv. no. 21; oil on canvas, 150 x 140 cm.; Van den Brink 2008, p. 245, no. A116, reproduced.

⁴ Inv. no. M 1984/5; oil on canvas, 127 x 100 cm.; https://datenbank.museum-kassel.de/32037/0/0/0/s1/0/100/objekt.html

⁵ Inv. no. 71.PA.18; oil on canvas, 95.3 × 74.9 cm.; https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RB4

6 Inv. no. SA 23536; oil on canvas, 93 x 72 cm.; https://am.adlibhosting.com/amonline/Details/museum/38911

7 Inv. no. SA 23537; oil on canvas, 93 x 72 cm.; https://am.adlibhosting.com/amonline/Details/museum/38912