This delicate, fanciful portrait and its pair, Walters 38.227, were probably made as mementos of the marriage in 1626 of Jan Pellicorne (1597-after 1653) and Susanna van Collen, both from wealthy merchant families. The leopard skin thrown rakishly over his shoulder, his blouse, and the strap (for a quiver) all evoke the romantic, care-free, but strictly imaginary life of ancient Greek shepherds, as popularized by theatrical productions of the time. His carefully disheveled hair suggests a shepherd, but his neat mustache and goatee mark him as really a gentleman.
Poelenburch was chiefly a painter of landscapes with biblical or mythological subjects who brought back from a trip to Rome a love of Italian luminosity. His intimate portraits, which share this luminosity, were in great demand with wealthy patrons, and were often displayed in ebony wood frames.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Cornelis_van_Poelenburgh" class="extiw" title="w:en:Cornelis van Poelenburgh"><span title="Dutch painter (1594–1667)">Cornelius van Poelenburgh</span></a>
</bdi>
circa 1626 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1626-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902</div> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Baroque" class="extiw" title="w:en:Baroque"><span title="cultural movement, starting around 1600">Baroque</span></a><div style="display: none;">era QS:P2348,Q37853</div>)
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