© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 2 of 9Young Man Readingca. 1650
oil on panel
48.5 x 38.6 cm
signed in highlight and shadow, in light anddark paint, lower left: “I.V.Loo.”
JvL-100

Jacob van Loo(Sluis 1614 – 1670 Paris)

How to cite
Libby, Alexandra. “Young Man Reading” (2017). Revised by Alexandra Libby (2018). In The Leiden Collection
Catalogue,2nded.

EditedbyArthurK.

WheelockJr.

NewYork,

2017–20.

https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/a-young-man-reading/ (archived May 2020).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrativeoccurs.

© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 3 of 9

When Jacob van Loo turned his brush to the human figure, his subject was[1]

usually the female nude.

Comparative Figures

He was known for orienting these nudes on a

vertical canvas and enveloping them in soft light that allowed shadows todance across the exquisitely rendered fabrics barely covering their luminous
skin.[2] He nuanced their gestures and facial expressions so much that one
could easily imagine their thoughts and personalities. With a similarsensitivity to his subject’s psychological character, Van Loo has here
captured the intense concentration of a young man reading.
The youth, who sits on a chest or bench while leaning on a foot warmer (fig1), grips a thin book or manuscript, the spine of which he has fully inverted,as he carefully studies its text. The room is entirely brown, with its floor-to-Fig 1. Detail of foot warmer inJohannes Vermeer, The Milkmaid(detail), ca. 1660, oil on canvas,
45.5 x 41 cm, Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam, SK-A-2344

ceiling wood panels, doors, and floor, making it difficult to interpret either
spatially or functionally. It may be a transitional space between the insideand outside, such as a mudroom or entrance hall to a home. Hanging on thewall are two musical instruments, probably a violin and a viola, that are
partially covered by clothes, suggesting that the young man may be waiting
for a music lesson, and the text he is studying is a musical score.
Music was a passion of the privileged elite, and the young man’s
fashionable clothing, indeed, identifies him as part of the upper class.[3]Typically, however, artists focused on musical ensembles already engaged
in the act, rather than on a musician preparing for a lesson. Such scenes,
including one depicted by Van Loo in the mid-1660s (fig 2), offered theopportunity to show amorous interactions between men and women given

Fig 2. Jacob van Loo, MusicalCompany, ca. 1665/66, oil oncanvas, 73.3 x 66 cm, ThyssenBornemisza Collection, Madrid,inv. no. 1930.47

that the playing of music metaphorically referred to the unison of lovers’
hearts. Although Van Loo’s decision to picture the boy studying is, thus,unusual, it was likely inspired by two of his previous works related to thecomposition: Man Holding a Woman on His Knees, which is signed anddated 1650, and Scholar in His Study from the early 1650s (fig 3).[4] In theformer work, a man and woman carouse in a wood-paneled room highly
reminiscent of the space in Young Man Reading. In the latter work, a young
scholar in a nearly identical pose toLeiden Collection young man sits in aroom cluttered with papers, books, scientific instruments, and othercuriosities, keeping with traditional representations of scholars andFig 3. Jacob van Loo, Scholar inHis Study, early 1650s, oil oncanvas, 61.5 x 85 cm, Schloss
Ehrenburg, Coburg, Große
Galerie, R10, inv. no. E M 47.

academics.
Despite the similarity of these works—especially the figure of the youth, whom
Van Loo appears to have plucked from one composition for the other—eachof the three scenes has a very different energy. The amorousness of the© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 4 of 9

couple in Man Holding a Woman on His Knees and disorder of the scholar’sroom in Scholar in His Study endow the paintings with a dynamic energy thatis entirely unlike the sense of quietude and contemplation that pervades
Young Man Reading. That Van Loo executed the Leiden Collection work
after the other paintings is confirmed by technical analysis. Infrared
reflectography shows that the young man’s proper right foot was originallysmaller and located slightly higher than that of the youth in Scholar in His
Study. Van Loo, perhaps utilizing a now-lost preliminary drawing, revised theboy’s position when making this work (see technical notes).[5]The tranquil isolation of the figure in Young Man Reading is also unusual in
its focus on a young man reading by himself. Occasionally in Dutch art one
finds depictions of young boys reading books in the presence of a mentor orinstructor (fig 4), but these are few in number.[6] Generally, individuals

Fig 4. Gerrit Dou, Prince Rupert ofthe Palatinate and an Elderly Man(Probably His Teacher) as Samueland Eli, 1631/1632, oil on canvas,
102.9 x 88.7 cm, J. Paul Getty
Museum, Los Angeles, inv. no.
84.PA.570

reading books (as opposed to letters) are elderly women,[7] scholars in theirstudies,[8] or saints, such as Paul or Jerome.[9] Van Loo’s painting thus
occupies a special place in genre imagery of reading. Showing neither
scholar, nor saint, nor student, it is a representation of the joy and pleasureof reading, and its ability to captivate and engross the mind.

- Alexandra Libby, 2017; revised in 2018

© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 5 of 9Endnotes

1. Arnold

Houbraken,

DegrooteschouburghderNederlantsche

konstschilders

enschilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; revised edition published in The Hague, 1753;
reprinted in Amsterdam, 1980), 3, 172; Albert Blankert, et al., Dutch Classicism inSeventeenth-Century Paintings (Exh. cat. Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen;Frankfurt am Main, Sta?delsches Kunstinstitut) (Rotterdam, 1999), no. 26.
2. Wayne Franits, Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting: Its Stylistic and Thematic
Evolution (New Haven, 2004), 176.
3. His brass-buttoned jacket, knee-length pants with piping around the openings, and tall whiteknee socks reflect a French-inspired style popular in the late 1640s and 1650s. It was also invogue at that time to button only the upper part of the jacket so as to reveal the white shirt
underneath. The style of the hat resting beside the young man, with its tall, cylindrical shape,is characteristic of the 1650s. See, J.H. Der Kinderen-Besier, Spelevaart der Mode: De Kledij
onzer voorouders in de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam, 1950), 135, 137.
4. Scholar in His Study was previously attributed (with question) to the artist Mattheus vonHelmont by Herbert Brunner and Lorenz Zeelig in Coburg Schloss Ehrenburg (Munich, 1990),
53–54, repro. However, David Mandrella has convincingly given the painting to Van Loo in his
catalogue raisonné. See David Mandrella, Jacob van Loo, 1614–1670 (Paris, 2011), 138, no.
P.28; on Man Holding a Woman on His Knees, see 136, no. P.24. Mandrella’s entry onLeiden Collection painting says that the painting dates to the early 1660s (138–9, no. P.29).
However, correspondence with the author confirms that this date is a typo and ought to haveread early 1650s, as it does in the author’s essay on the artist (78).
5. The boy may depict an individual also depicted by Van Loo’s brother-in-law, the portraitist
Martinus Lengele (d. 1668). See Martinus Lengele, Portrait of a Young Man Wearing Armor,
oil on canvas, 70 x 55.4 cm, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, inv. no. 301.
6. For Jan Lievens (1607–74), see Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.ed., Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master
Rediscovered (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art
Museum; Amsterdam, Museum Het Rembrandthuis) (New Haven, 2009), 138–39, no. 29.
7. Examples of old women reading are found in the oeuvres of Gerrit Dou (1613–75),
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69), and Ferdinand Bol (1616–80), among others. See Ronni
Baer in Gerrit Dou, 1613–1675: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture
Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (New Haven, 2000), 66–67, no. 2; Josua Bruyn et al., A
Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, vol. 1: 1625–1631, Stichting Foundation Rembrandt
ResearchProject(TheHague,1982),356;

andSabine

Schulze,ed.,Leselust:© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 6 of 9

Niederla?ndische Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer (Exh. cat. Frankfurt, SchirnKunsthalle) (Frankfurt, 1993), 142–43, no. 7.
8. For examples by Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723) and Gerrit Dou, see Volker Manuth, Wisdom,
Knowledge and Magic: The Image of the Scholar in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art (Exh. cat.
Kingston, Agnes Etherington Art Centre) (Kingston, 1997), 44–45, no. 9; and Sabine Schulze,ed., Leselust: Niederla?ndische Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer (Exh. cat. Frankfurt amMain, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt) (Stuttgart, 1993), no. 23, 178–79, no. 23.
9. Jan Lievens (1607–74) painted an image of Saint Paul (see Volker Manuth, ed., Wisdom,
Knowledge and Magic: The Image of the Scholar in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art [Exh. cat.
Kingston, Agnes Etherington Art Centre] [Kingston, 1997], no. 23, 64–65, no. 23), andHendrick Bloemaert (ca. 1601–72) painted an image of Saint Jerome (see Sabine Schulze,ed., Leselust: Niederla?ndische Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer [Exh. cat. Frankfurt amMain, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt] [Stuttgart, 1993], no. 5, 136–39, no. 5). In images of thefour Evangelists, Saint Mark is usually portrayed reading. See Hendrick ter Brugghen’s(1588–1629) St. John in Sabine Schulze, ed., Leselust: Niederla?ndische Malerei vonRembrandt bis Vermeer (Exh. cat. Frankfurt am Main, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt) (Stuttgart,1993), no. 18, 164–65, 167.

ProvenanceAntoine Delacoux de Marivault (Marivaux) (1771–1846), Paris (sale, Paris, 27 January–3
February 1806, no. 31; sale, Paris, 10–11 June 1806, no. 58).
Frédéric Quilliet, Paris (his sale, Paris, 15–17 April 1818, no. 200).
Sale, Paris, 2–3 May 1833, no. 101.
Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, Duc de Morny (1811–1865) (pseud. M. de SaintRémy), by 1839.
Dufraisne collection, Cambrai, by 1876.
Anatole Demidoff (1812–1870), Principe di San Donato, Villa Demidoff, Palais de San
Donato, Florence; by descent to his nephew Paul Demidoff (1839–1885) (his sale, 15
March–13 April 1880, no. 1100).
Private collection.
[Wildenstein & Co., New York, 2007; Salomon Lilian B. V., Amsterdam, 2007].
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2007.

© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
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Exhibition HistoryAngers, Societe d’Agriculture, des Sciences et Arts d’Angers, “Exposition de Peinture etSculpture Anciennes,” 31 May–30 June 1839, no. 793 and no. 16 [lent by Duc de Morny(pseud. M. de Saint-Rémy)].
Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, on loan with the permanent collection, August
2009–November 2016 [lent by the present owner].
Paris, Museé du Louvre, “Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection: The Age of Rembrandt,” 22February–22 May 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Beijing, National Museum of China, “Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from TheLeiden Collection,” 17 June–3 September 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden
Age: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection,” 23 September 2017–25 February 2018 [lentby the present owner].
Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:
Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection,” 28 March 2018–22 July 2018 [lent by the presentowner].
St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:
Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection,” 5 September 2018–13 January 2019 [lent by thepresent owner].

References
Société d’Agriculture, Sciences et Arts d’Angers. Exposition de Peinture et SculptureAnciennes. Exh. cat. supplement vol., Angers, 1839, 68, no. 793.
Société d’Agriculture, Sciences et Arts d’Angers. Souvenirs de l’Exposition de Peinture etSculpture Anciennes de 1839. With illustrations by Pierre Hawke. Angers, 1840, 31–32, no.
16.
Michiels, Alfred. Histoire de la peinture flamande depuis ses debuts jusqu’en 1864. 10 vols.
2nd revised ed., Paris, 1876, 10: 34.
Von Wurzbach, Alfred. Niederla?ndisches Ku?nstler-Lexikon; auf Grund archivalischerForschungen Bearbeitet. 3 vols. Vienna, 1906–11, 2: 64.
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Benjamin Peronnet et al., eds. Répertoire des tableaux vendus
en France au XIXe siècle. 1 vol. to date. Los Angeles, 1998 1: 650.
Mandrella, David. Jacob van Loo, 1614–1670. Paris, 2011, 25, no. 29, 26, 76, 78, 138–39.
Noorman, Judith F. J. “The unconventional career of Jacob van Loo (1614–70), painter in© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 8 of 9Amsterdam and Paris.” PhD diss. Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2013, 288, no.
40.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Rembrandt and His Time: China and the Dutch Republic in theGolden Age.” In Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection. Editedby Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 10; 15, no. 50. Translated by Li Ying. Exh. cat. Beijing, National
Museum of China. Beijing, 2017McCarthy, Alexa. “Young Man Reading.” In Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection: The Ageof Rembrandt. Edited by Blaise Ducos and Dominique Surh, 76, no. 28. Exh. cat. Paris,Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2017.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Young Man Reading.” In Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces ofThe Leiden Collection. Edited by Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 120–21; 184, no. 50. Translated by LiYing. Exh. cat. Beijing, National Museum of China. Beijing, 2017.
Long Museum, West Bund. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age:Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection. Exh. cat. Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund.
Shanghai, 2017, 130–31.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Young Man Reading.” In The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection. Edited by Polina Lyubimova, 114–15; 235, no. 24.
Translated by Daria Babich and Daria Kuzina. Exh. cat. Moscow, The Pushkin State Museumof Fine Arts; St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum. Moscow, 2018.
Blanc, Jan. “Being Modern, Being Dutch: The Seventeenth-Century Invention of the GoldenAge.” In Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age. Masterpieces from The LeidenCollection and the Musée du Louvre. Edited by Blaise Ducos and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 42.
Exh. cat. Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi. London, 2019. [Exhibition catalogue also publishedin French and Arabic.]
Ducos, Blaise, and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, eds. Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden
Age. Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre. Exh. cat. Abu
Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi. London, 2019, 156, no. 76. [Exhibition catalogue also published inFrench and Arabic.]

VersionsVersions and Copies

1. Pierre Hawke, after Jacob van Loo, L’Étudiant, line engraving, in Souvenirs de l’Expositionde Peinture et Sculpture Anciennes de 1839 (Angers, 1840), no. 16.

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Young Man Reading
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Technical Summary
The support is a rectangular composite panel comprised of two radially cut, vertically grained
Baltic oak planks of different widths. The vertical panel join is located to the right of center andpasses through the figure’s proper left thigh. The planks derive from the same tree with anearliest fell date of 1627, and the painting may be given a plausible creation date from 1635
on.[1] The panel has been thinned and cradled and oak blocks have been inserted between theupper and lower ends of the vertical cradle members to reinforce the support. There are two
paper labels and two handwritten inscriptions, but no wax seals, import stamps, stencils, machine
toolmarks or panel maker’s marks.
A creamy white ground has been thinly and evenly applied. The paint has been applied thinly andsmoothly along the majority of the painting and with more refined, opaque, slightly raised
brushwork along the highlights of the flesh tones, the white of the shirt, stockings, and decorative
details of the hat of the seated figure, and along the edge of the book being read. The figure’s
garment folds have been created using varying paint translucency, and the highlights of the jacket
and trousers have been created by allowing the light-colored ground to show through the thinbrown wash, which contrasts with the darker opaque areas of browns and grays.
The painting is signed in highlight and shadow in light and dark paint along the lower left corner,
but is undated.
Infrared images captured at 900–1700 nanometers detected underdrawing along the figure’s chinand hands. Dark lines along the upper contour of the drapery at the far left and short lines around
it appear to be above the paint, not underdrawn. Underpainting appears as a very loosely painted
dark shape where the door is presently located, possibly suggesting a fabric previously hung to
the right of the door. A pentimento along the boy’s proper right foot indicates it was originallysmaller and located slightly higher.
The painting has not undergone conservation treatment since its acquisition in 2007 and remains
in good condition.[2]Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on Peter Klein’s 2011 dendrochronology reportand an unsigned and undated (possibly August 2011) examination report prepared by thePaintings Conservation Department, J. Paul Getty Museum.
2. Entry based on an examination report prepared by Yvonne Szafran, head of paintings
conservation, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2011, and additional information provided
by e-mail by Devi Ormond, associate paintings conservator, J. Paul Getty Museum.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection