Adr. Arentzen

Period

ca. 1680-1720

Material

oil on canvas

Sizes

(height) 69.00cm. (width) 57.00cm.

Description

Two pendant portraits of a man and a woman. The actual portraits are placed in an oval shape that is surrounded by a floral garland that fills out the rectangular space.
The man, portraied from the right with his face towards the spectator, wears an allonge-whig and is informally dressed in a dressing gown typical for the period (1775-1825). This so called Japanese frock, normally of a flexible material like silk, was publicly worn since 1675 by citizens of high esteem, as a token of liberation from the body from the formal clothing that limited a persons movement. Having ones portait taken in such a frock was a statement to emphasize ones social status. The man is depicted standing in front of a balustrade. On his right a column. In the base of this column the artist signed his name. on the left, behind the man, a landscape with trees.
Like the man, the woman is portraied from the right with her face towards the spectator and standing in front of a balustrade. The woman is wearing a sprig with roses in her left hand. The woman is slightly more formally dressed than the man. With her silk dress and pearl necklace she presents herself as a worthy representative of the dignified bourgeoisie. The style of her hair as well as her clothing tell us we’re in the period between 1680 and 1720. On the left behind the woman, a landscape with trees, on the right a classical garden-urn on a stand. On the urn we can distinguish playing children.
The sprig of roses in the hand of the woman and the many roses in the surrounding decoration suggest that these are weddingportraits. This is corroborated by the symbolism of some of the other flowers depicted. Carnations that are symbol of marital faithfulness and sunflowers (in the male portrait in the upper part and in the female portrait at the bottom) that stand for devotion and love; ‘like the sunflower turns to the sun, the lover constantly turns to his beloved’.
The column in the male portrait and the playing children on the urn in the female portrait, together with all the symbolism of the flowers, intensify the message of love. These paintings were undoubtedly made for the occasion of their wedding and come from a tradition with similar symbolism.