Portrait of Jan van Huysum

Jan van Huysum was the most famous flower still life painter of the 18th century. In this portrait he is in his late thirties, the age at which he enjoyed his first successes. Boonen may well have painted this in exchange for a floral still life. The stylish cloak and the curtain lend the painting a certain gravity, softened somewhat by the informality of the sitter’s open shirt.