(Utrecht 1571–1638)
Portrait of a gentleman, traditionally identified as Charles Philippe I, Baron de Merode-Houffalize, Count of Middelburg (circa 1571–1625) full-length; and Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Jeanne de Montmorency, Dame de Croisilles (circa 1575–1621), full-length, both standing near a table,
oil on canvas, each 203.6 x 125.3 cm, framed, a pair (2)

Provenance:
Prince of Merode, Château de Rixensart, Belgium, until 2018

We are grateful to Eric Domela Nieuwenhuis who confirmed the present paintings as autograph works by Paulus Moreelse, executed circa 1615/20. Domela Nieuwenhuis points out that only one full-length portrait by the artist is known which is of Sophia Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel in the Koninklijke Verzamelingen, The Hague (inv. no. SC/0351).

The present pair of portraits, set in sumptuously draped surrounds, is typical of the manner and handling of Moreelse, Utrecht’s foremost seventeenth century portraitist. Although full-length Dutch portraits from beginning of the century are rare, Moreelse’s tutor Michiel van Mierevelt as well as Jan van Ravesteyn examined the artistic possibilities offered by the format. Karel van Mander in his Schilderboeck also notes Moreelse’s 1604 portrait of Floris van Pallandt, Count of Culemborch along with his wife. The assured register and courtly poise, as well as the wealth exhibited by the fine dress of the present subjects is characteristic of his portrayals of well to do citizens.

The founder of both the Utrecht Guild of Saint Luke, along with an artists’ academy with Abraham Bloemaert, Moreelse’s oeuvre encompasses both mannerist history paintings for which Wtewael and Bloemaert are so celebrated and the more stoic portrayals favoured by the Counter-Remonstrant class of religious hardliners to which he belonged. Of particular renown was his invention of the genre of pendant portraits of shepherd and shepherdesses, with the female figures usually depicted behaving lewdly or seductively. Trained in Delft by the portraitist Michiel van Mierevelt, Moreelse’s style was marked by less severity and greater fluidity, as is evident in the present lot. Notable among Moreelse’s pupils was the prominent Utrecht Caravaggist Dirck van Baburen.