Pieter Hermansz. Verelst

Formerly with H.A. Buttery, London (as by Ferdinand Bol).

W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, Landau/Pfalz 1983, vol. V, p. 3117, cat. no. 2166, reproduced p. 3316 (as by Verelst);
D. Miller, Jan Victors, 1619-1676, dissertation, University of Delaware 1985, p. 340, cat. no. R 4 (under rejected attributions).

The actual painting is darker in tone and the greens in the fleshtones are more prominent than the catalogue illustration suggests. The panel consists of three horizontal planks and is cradled, the retouched joints are visible to the front. A few spots of paintloss are visible in the sitter's face and in his clothing, especially in the centre left, as shown in the catalogue illustration. Some slight frame abrasion is visible along the right and left edge. Otherwise, the paint layer is well preserved such as the impastos of the highlights and the golden embroidery. The paint surface is covered with an old and discoloured varnish layer. Inspection under UV-light confirms aforesaid retouchings and shows additional retouchings in the areas along the joints, in the brown scarf and in the white feather. Offered in a later, deep wood frame with a vilt inlay, in good condition. (JD)
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Previously, this painting had unconvincing attributions to Ferdinand Bol (by Buttery, London) and to Jan Victors (in the files of the R.K.D., The Hague). Werner Sumowski firstly attributed this painting to Pieter Verelst and dated the work to the early 1640s.¹ As pointed out by Sumowski, Verelst's main influence was Gerrit Dou, but his work is also characterised by two Rembrandtesque phases. The first defined by Rembrandt's style of the 1630s, and analogous to Govaert Flinck and Jan Victors, in the second Verelst worked in a more painterly style closer to the work of Salomon Koninck. This work can be placed in the first Rembrandtesque phase of the early to mid-1640s, in which the artist worked with a finer application of paint and a detailed approach to the rendition of textures. Compare for example Verelst's portrait of a young lady, dated 1642,  which was sold London, Sotheby's, 14 December 2000, lot 168. Both panels share the same emphasis on dress and garments as well as the prominent pale fleshtone of the sitter's face.

1. Sumowski under Literature, p. 3117.