Hendrick Frans van Lint

With Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, by 1967;
Denys Sutton, London;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

A. Zwollo, Hollandse en Vlaamse veduteschilders te Rome 1675-1725, p. 118, reproduced, fig. 152;
J. Cailleux, in The Burlington Magazine, November 1969, p. IV, fig. 14;
R.L. Pisetzky, La storia del costume in Italia, Milan 1964-1969, vol. IV, reproduced figs. 7, 81, 83;
A. Vici, Peter, Hendrik e Giacomo Van Lint: Tre pittori di Anversa del '600 e '700 lavorano a Roma, Rome 1987, pp. 268-9, cat. no. 321, reproduced (as present location unknown).

Copper plate is flat and stable. paint surface is under a slightly dirty, dull varnish. overall the paint surface is very well preserved and there is excellent retention of detail. examination under ultraviolet reveals a few small, isolated retouches in foliage upper center and upper left; there are also some very small retouches all around edges and an area in scuplted bas relief lower left. figure and sky look very good with only one or two tiny retouches. Offered in a carved and gilt wood frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This charming work appears to be the only accepted portrait by Hendrick van Lint. The artist has chosen as his subject his son Giacomo, an accomplished artist himself, who is shown here as an elegant young man underneath an arched opening. It has been suggested (see Literature, Vici 1987) that the picture was executed in the Christian Jubilee year 1750, which would make Giacomo twenty-seven years of age when he sat for the portrait. In the background is a clearly recognized St. Peter's Square, perhaps a reference to both the Jubilee year, and the fact that Giacomo was born in Rome. Yet a further reference to the Eternal City is found in the painted bas relief sculpture beneath Giacomo. This has been recognized as a sculpture by Vincenzo Pacetti, which is located in Rome at the Palazzo Altieri (see H. Honour, "Vinceno Pacetti", in The Connoisseur, November 1960, p. 177).

In this small composition, van Lint has framed his son in a bay window, as was the custom of many Northern painters of the seventeenth century, and can be likened to similar compositions by Gerard Dou, van Mieris and many others. It was very likely painted in the autumn, as suggested by the cluster of grapes found in the top left cluster of trees.