Portrait of a Woman,

ca. 1655–56

Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen, who began his career as a portraitist in London, was trained in England and in the Netherlands. He would have been aware of Sir Anthony Van Dyck’s portraits of Charles I and his court, painted in the elegant, grand-manner ­conventions that Van Dyck brought from Italy; his own work, for a wealthy clientele but not the highest aristocracy, was conservative and followed English and Netherlandish traditions. During the civil war, commissions vanished, and Jonson moved to the Netherlands in 1643, settling first in Middelburg, then in Amsterdam and, finally, briefly in Utrecht. After the execution of Charles I, members of the Stuart family and supporters flowed into Europe, bringing their taste for the Van Dyck style. Jonson, too, adopted this more elevated manner of portraiture for his sitters, practicing a painterly style with visible brushstrokes and elegant compositions. His most accomplished portraits date from the 1650s, when this portrait of a woman was painted. Her severe black dress is relieved by the white collar and cuffs, and Jonson’s preferred blue background. The few touches of luxury fade in importance before her steady gaze and gracefully clasped hands. This was the aim of the Calvinist prescription for black dress: to subordinate worldly goods to a place of less importance than more lasting spiritual concerns. <em>Handbook of the Collections, 2013</em>