Portrait of a Family (The Visit)

A partiality for an ostentatious presentation is a stylistic characteristic of late-seventeenth-century Flemish painting in general and is also a response to the changing attitudes of the clientele. It can be found also in Theodor Boeyermans’s The Visit. In its balanced structure and the controlled elegance of its figures the same classicist trend that is so conspicuous in his altarpieces can be seen. But on the other hand the theatrical setting in front of a park with an ornamental fountain is also typical of this painter. The figures are shown in conversation, which adds to the liveliness of the painting.