The Story
…; ? collection William Wells Esq. (1767-1845), Redleaf, near Penshurst (Kent), 1829;{J. Smith, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters_, I, London 1829, p. 45, no. 138 (‘The portrait of an elderly female, said to be the mother of the artist. This picture is painted the size of nature, and is evidently the work of Dow, when in the school of Rembrandt. Collection of W. Wells, Esq. 26 _in_. -P. } ? , no. 15, to Evans;{Copy RKD. The description of the painting is the same as in J.
Smith, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters_, I, London 1829, p. 45, no. }…; or purchased by the Hoekwater family, The Hague, c.
Executed in height 71.1 cm x width 55.2 cm, measuring width: 69.5; depth: 5.8; height: 71.1; height: 85.3; width: 55.2, the surface rewards close looking. Gerrit Dou builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward. The brushwork shifts from the precise to the almost dissolved — a hallmark of mature Baroque practice.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
