Portrait of the goldsmith B. J. van Assendelft - Werner van den Valckert (1580 - c. 1627)

Holland, first quarter of the 17th century, attributed to Werner van den Valckert.
Leaning against a window from which he seems to emerge thanks to a clever trompe l'oeil composition, a man is looking at us. In his right hand, he is holding a finely worked ring set with a precious stone, which he seems to be offering us through the window. By observing his left hand resting on the frame, a clue allows us to understand the meaning of this portrait. Indeed, his hand is resting on a touchstone: a very hard mineral made of black jasper which allows to control the title of a precious metal. Thus the man portrayed is a goldsmith (we would say jeweler today), as evidenced by the meeting of the tool (the touchstone) and the manufactured object (the ring). This work is the second copy of a portrait that Werner van den Valckert painted in 1617 for the goldsmith Bartholomeus Jansz van Assendelft. The latter probably intended to celebrate his election as master of the Leiden goldsmiths' guild in the same year by having himself portrayed with the trappings of his trade. The first portrait is signed and dated in the touchstone and is kept in the Rijskmuseum. The two paintings are of similar quality of execution and strictly identical in composition, which suggests that this is not a preparatory work but a copy made by the artist himself at the request of the original commissioner, probably as a present to a member of his family or guild, as was customary at a time when the popularity of portraiture extended to the families of the lower middle class.

Werner van den Valckert's style is in keeping with the relatively austere and uncluttered portraiture that was in vogue in the Northern Netherlands in the early 17th century, mainly inspired by the art of Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt (The Hague, 1567 - Id., 1641). In this case, our painter focuses not on the expression of feelings but on the accurate and meticulous realization of fabrics, face and attributes. Dark colors dominate, both in the clothing and in the abstract background against which Bartholomeus Jansz van Assendelft is depicted. However, unlike his contemporaries, van den Valckert innovated by introducing more dynamic poses into his portraits, for example by using illusionist compositions as in this work.

We have chosen to present this rare portrait of a jeweler in a gilded and blackened Italian carved wood frame.
Size: 66 x 46 cm - 83 x 63 cm with the frame