Barent Graat

Barend Graat (1628-1709) Diana the huntress and her dogs

circa 1650

David Finsonius (Veere 1597- Bergen op Zoom 1646/1648) Portrait of a girl with a rose and a red coral necklace With traces of the artist’s signature and annotated AETATIS S.V. 2 1⁄2 Ao 1631 Oil on panel, H. 104.5 x 79.5 cm Provenance: Purchased by Jonkheer Helenus Marius Speelman (1857-1909), Kasteel de Wittenburg; thence by descent The work shows a strong resemblance to a portrait by Finsonius in the North Brabant Museum. This signed and dated "Girl with Basket and Cherries" (Inv. 15529), was painted just a year later, in 1632. Not only are the paintings remarkably similar in overall size and format, in painting style, and in the positioning of the girls in full length in their white lace dresses. They are also connected by the iconographic scheme of the respective coral necklaces, each with a gold memorial medal hanging from it. Although they are of course individuals, the faces are very similar in their depictions of features such as eyes, nose, and lips. This points to the same technique applied by the same painter. Finally, the handwriting is almost the same on the works by Finsonius known so far. About the painter, David Finson named 'Finsonius' (related to the better-known Louis Finson...

The 39-year-old gentleman had himself portrayed as an aristocrat in an idyllic landscape. At the time, parks and forests were environments associated with the lands and pastimes of t...