RAVESTEYN, Jan Antonisz. van

The sitter of this portrait is Catherine de Rechteren (born 1567), the second wife of Willem Fransz. Duyst van Santen (1564-1610), a member of a leading Northern Dutch Regent Family in Delft. His portrait is the companion piece of the present painting.

The details in these portraits confirm the couple’s wealth and social status. In particular, Catherine’s costume is of the greatest luxury, inspired by the Spanish fashion of the late 16th century, and worn in Flanders and the Northern Netherlands from 1600 onwards.

Sir John Burroughs or “Borough” was a 17th-century English soldier and military commander in the protestant army commanded by Horace Vere in the Palatinate, during the Eighty Years’ War and the Thirty Years’ War. He is depicted in the present full_length portrait standing, with a lance in his right hand, left hand at the sides, above the left hip a sword. Right on the table is the helmet.

The sitter of this portrait is Willem Fransz. Duyst van Santen (1564-1610), a member of a leading Northern Dutch Regent Family in Delft. The companion piece represents his second wife, Catherine de Rechteren (born 1567). The details in these portraits confirm the couple’s wealth and social status. In particular, Catherine’s costume is of the greatest luxury, inspired by the Spanish fashion of the late 16th century, and worn in Flanders and the Northern Netherlands from 1600 onwards.

Van Ravesteyn was exclusively a portrait painter. His mature style responds to Michiel van Miereveld, but his approach to portraiture was more fluid and more flattering than Van Miereveld’s, who nevertheless enjoyed greater favour from members of the Dutch court and an international reputation.

The present painting may have had a pendant, but no trace of one is known.

The sitters of these portraits are Willem Fransz. Duyst van Santen (1564-1610), a member of a leading Northern Dutch Regent Family in Delft, and his second wife Catherine de Rechteren (born 1567).

The details in these portraits confirm the couple’s wealth and social status. In particular, Catherine’s costume is of the greatest luxury, inspired by the Spanish fashion of the late 16th century, and worn in Flanders and the Northern Netherlands from 1600 onwards.