Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 14

Casper Casteleyn
Portrait of a Newlywed by Casper Casteleyn, an artist of the Dutch Golden Age

1646

About the Item

This marvelous portrait on vellum is the work of a rare Dutch Golden Age artist, Casper Casteleyn, who has also drawn a closely related portrait now at the Fondation Custodia in Paris. The whiteness of the vellum brings out the almost photographic precision of the sitter's bust. He seems to be staring at us, comfortably seated on a chair with his shoulder resting on one of the uprights of the backrest... 1. Casper Casteleyn Casper Casteleyn (also sometimes called Jasper, Kasteleyn or Kastelyn) was born around 1625 in Haarlem into a Mennonite family that played an important role in the Haarlem book trade. His father Vincent Casteleyn (c. 1585 - 1658) founded one of the first newspapers in the Netherlands, and was also the town's printer, an office taken over by his brother Abraham (c. 1628 / 1681). Casper himself became a painter, as did his two brothers Johannes (c. 1612 - after 1665) and Vincent II (1609 - 1649). He became a member of the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke in 1653, and lived in Amsterdam. Today, his is principally known through his history paintings. 2. Presentation of the portrait and related artworks The restrained black chalk technique used in this portrait transposes a presumably black garment into a subtle harmony of grays, and magnifies the luxurious, padded character of the vellum used as a support. Our model is depicted in a hieratic position, comfortably seated in a chair, slightly three-quarter viewed. His gaze, which seems to stare back at us, gives us the impression that we are seated opposite to him, but slightly lower down. His suit consists of a loose-fitting jacket, buttoned at the collar and sleeves, with a sort of cape wrapped around his left arm. The wide white canvas collar, fastened with a pompom lace, and the floppy hat are typical of male portraits of the period, as can be seen, for example, in Frans Hals' Portrait of Adriaen van Ostade, painted around the same time (between 1646 and 1648) in Haarlem (7th photo in the gallery). Both portraits also feature gloves, an essential sign of membership in the social elite of the time, and present a contrast between the ungloved right hand (used in our portrait to support the arm at the abdomen level) and the gloved left hand. One detail strikes us as highly amusing: the model is using the edge of the back of the chair he's sitting on to brace his shoulder, revealing a small head in the hollow of his shoulder. Similar chairs can be found in many contemporary paintings, such as for example Vermeer's The Wine Glass, painted between 1658 and 1660 (8th photo in the gallery). Two other men portraits on vellum by Casper Casteleyn are known. The first one (reproduced above) is considered a self-portrait and measures 16 x 14 cm. It is signed by the artist, who indicates that he depicted himself at the age of 36. The second one is in the Fondation Custodia (9th photo in the gallery). Much more elaborated, it is also larger than the one we are presenting (32.1 x 25.4 cm) and dated slightly later (1652). It depicts a young man in three-quarter view, wearing a beret. Although the Baroque setting of this portrait is very different from the austere setting of ours, there are a number of similarities between the two artworks, not only in the seated posture, with the elbow bent and the fist resting on the waist, but also in the use of the head of the armchair, which emerges amidst the drapery. This portrait has a very special history, as it was stolen from Frits Lugt with its counterpart, a portrait of a woman, during the Second World War and returned to the Fondation Custodia without its counterpart in 1954. The presence of a counterpart woman portrait indicates that it was probably commissioned for their wedding or for their engagement, which is another point in common with our portrait... 3. Portraits of two newlyweds Our portrait comes from the same collection as this portrait of a young woman (last photo in the gallery), also dated 1646, which leads us to believe that these are two newlyweds. Casteleyn specifies the young woman's age (20) below its signature, which would make her exactly 20 years younger than her husband, if we are to believe the biographical information on the reverse of our vellum. This age indication seems plausible to us, as the groom does not appear much older in this portrait than the artist in his self-portrait, painted when he was 36. The young woman is portrayed slightly three-quartered, but this time facing left, also seated, hands folded, a handkerchief in her hands, shoulders slightly sloping. The modesty of her posture contrasts with the assertiveness of her husband's, and probably illustrates the age difference, but also possibly different temperament, between these two characters. 4. Framing We have chosen to present this portrait in a 17th-century frame in the Dutch style, but of Italian, perhaps Venetian, origin.
  • Creator:
    Casper Casteleyn (1625 - 1661, Dutch)
  • Creation Year:
    1646
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 21.88 in (55.58 cm)Width: 19.88 in (50.5 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Black chalk on vellum (parchment) 9” x 7 ½” (23 x 19 cm) – Framed : 21 7/8” x 19 7/8” (55.5 x 50.5 cm) Signed "Kasteleyn" lower left and dated 1646 upper right Italian frame in the Dutch style - Venice ? 17th century.
  • Gallery Location:
    PARIS, FR
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1568213572272
More From This SellerView All
  • The Arab Butcher, a preparatory drawing by Gustave Guillaumet (1840 - 1887)
    Located in PARIS, FR
    This intensely expressive figure is a preparatory study for "Arab Market on the Tocria Plain", a painting exhibited at the 1865 Salon and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lille. 1...
    Category

    1860s Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Carbon Pencil, Chalk

  • Costume of an envoy of Venice, a drawing by Francesco Galimberti (1755 - 1803)
    Located in PARIS, FR
    We thank Mrs. Bożena Anna Kowalczyk who suggested the attribution to Francesco Galimberti based on a photograph of the artwork. This engaging drawing, finely executed in black and red chalks, depicts a Venetian diplomat in his 'new clothes...
    Category

    1780s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Chalk

  • Portrait of a Lady, Drawing Signed and Dated by Augustin de Saint-Aubin
    By Augustin de Saint-Aubin
    Located in PARIS, FR
    This drawing full of freshness presents us with the profile of an elegant lady, drawn by Augustin de Saint-Aubin on a beautiful summer day in 1776, during the early months of Louis X...
    Category

    1770s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Pastel, Pencil

  • Portrait of a Melancholic Woman, a Drawing signed by Léon Bonnat
    Located in PARIS, FR
    This drawing by Léon Bonnat, the greatest portrait painter of the Third Republic, shows a woman of indeterminate age, caught in a melancholic pose. 1. Léo...
    Category

    Late 19th Century Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Cardboard, Carbon Pencil

  • Landscape with Trees and a Fisherman walking, a drawing by Jan Van Goyen
    By Jan Josefsz Van Goyen
    Located in PARIS, FR
    No Dutch draughtsman ever captured the atmosphere of the rural countryside of Holland with the same atmospheric and engaging simplicity that Van Goyen achieved in drawings such as this. Indeed, his landscapes were seminal in the development of the genre. The present sketch conveys a striking sense of movement within the natural landscape, conveyed by the deftly applied strokes of chalk, from which the artist’s hand can be sensed. The composition is characteristic of his work, with the low horizon affording significance to the broad sky and the soaring birds within. This feeling of windswept motion powerfully evokes the expansive Dutch farmland with which he was evidently preoccupied. 1. Jan van Goyen...
    Category

    1650s Old Masters Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Chalk, Ink, Laid Paper

  • A red chalk study sheet by Baldassare Franceschini, known as Volterrano
    Located in PARIS, FR
    This fresh sanguine sheet presents various studies placed next to each other in no apparent order. Two of the feet studies are preparatory to the first major commission received by the young Baldassare Franceschini, shortly after his installation in Florence, the frescoes for the Medici Fastes. This cycle was executed between 1636 and 1646 for the Villa La Petraia, a Medici villa on the outskirts of Florence, which allows us to date this sheet to the artist's youth. 1. The Medici Fastes, the first major commission for a young artist Born in Volterra in 1611, the town from which he took his nickname, Baldassare Franceschini apprenticed with his father, a sculptor of alabaster, one of his home town's specialities, and studied with Cosimo Daddi (1540-1630), a local artist. The Marquis Inghirami, who spotted his talent, sent him to the workshop of Matteo Rosselli (1578 - 1650) in Florence, which was also attended by Francesco Furini (1603 - 1646). In 1636, Lorenzo de' Medici, the youngest son of Ferdinand Ier and Christine of Lorraine, chose the 25-year-old artist, again on the advice of the Marquis Inghirami, to decorate with frescoes the loggias of the inner courtyard of the Villa La Petraia, which he had just inherited on the death of his mother. The project lasted about ten years and included ten scenes placed symmetrically in two loggias on either side of the courtyard: four main scenes and six placed above the doors, each to the glory of a member of the Medici family. This decoration was his major secular project, but Volterrano also executed several religious frescoes and a few easel paintings, often with less success. Among the religious commissions, we can cite the dome of the Colloredo chapel dedicated to Saint Lucy...
    Category

    Mid-17th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Chalk, Paper

You May Also Like
  • St. John the Baptist in the wilderness , Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God)
    By Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Il Guercino)
    Located in Middletown, NY
    Pen and sepia ink and wash on vellum, 8 7/8 x 10 1/2 inches (225 x 267 mm). In very good condition with some modern notations in pencil on the verso, minor cockling, and a 1-inch hor...
    Category

    Mid-17th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Ink, Watercolor, Vellum, Pencil

  • Study of a Franciscan Saint, probably San Diego de Alcalá
    Located in New York, NY
    Provenance: Ivan E. Phillips, Montreal and New York, until 2023. The brothers Bartolomé Carducho and Vicente Carducho, both born and trained in Florence, settled in Spain where they made their careers. Vicente worked on numerous commissions for both the church and the Spanish court...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Chalk, Ink, Pen

  • Sarah & Asad (Hands to Face), Mixed media on Pergamenata parchment
    By Howard Tangye
    Located in London, GB
    Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil Pastel, Pastel, Wax Crayon, Emulsion, Ink, Archival Ink, India Ink, ...

  • Ruslan (Swedish Boy), Mixed media on ochre parchment
    By Howard Tangye
    Located in London, GB
    Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paint, Paper, Parchment Paper, Chalk, Charcoal, Crayon, Oil Crayon, Oil ...

  • Oscar (Sitting, Head on Chair), Mixed media on Pergamenata parchment
    By Howard Tangye
    Located in London, GB
    Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paint, Paper, Parchment Paper, Chalk, Charcoal, Crayon, Oil Crayon, Oil ...

  • Portrait Miniature c1765 Letitia Preston Vallancey
    Located in Holywell, GB
    A fine sanguine chalk drawing on paper of Letitia aged about ten dating to around 1765. Unsigned, inscribed verso and presented in a 19th century mount and frame. “When Letitia Pres...
    Category

    1760s Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Chalk

Recently Viewed

View All