Young Man Readingca. 1650

Jacob van Loo(Sluis 1614 – 1670 Paris)

oil on panel
48.5 x 38.6 cm
signed in highlight and shadow, in light and dark
paint, lower left: “I.V.Loo.”
JvL-100

How To Cite© 2018 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 2 of 9Libby, Alexandra. "Young Man Reading." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr. New York.
https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/(accessed February 28, 2018).

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© 2018 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 theirluminous skin.[2] He nuanced their gestures and facial expressions somuch that one could easily imagine their thoughts and personalities. With asimilar sensitivity 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(fig 1), grips a thin book or manuscript, the spine of which he has fully

Fig 1. Detail of foot warmer in
Johannes Vermeer, The Milkmaid(detail), ca. 1660, oil on canvas,
45.5 x 41 cm, Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam, SK-A-2344

inverted, as he carefully studies its text. The room is entirely brown, with its
floor-to-ceiling wood panels, doors, and floor, making it difficult to interpret
either spatially or functionally. It may be a transitional space between theinside and outside, such as a mudroom or entrance hall to a home.
Hanging on the wall are two musical instruments, probably a violin and aviola, 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 musicalscore.
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 alreadyengaged in the act, rather than on a musician preparing for a lesson. SuchFig 2. Jacob van Loo, MusicalCompany, ca. 1665/66, oil oncanvas, 73.3 x 66 cm, ThyssenBornemisza Collection, Madrid,inv. no. 1930.47

scenes, including one depicted by Van Loo in the mid-1660s (fig 2),
offered the opportunity to show amorous interactions between men andwomen given that the playing of music metaphorically referred to theunison 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 the composition: Man Holding a Woman on His Knees ,which is signed and dated 1650, and Scholar in His Study from the early
1650s (fig 3).[4] In the former work, a man and woman carouse in a woodpaneled room highly reminiscent of the space in Young Man Reading. In
the latter work, a young scholar in a nearly identical pose toLeidenFig 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.

Collection young man sits in a room cluttered with papers, books, scientificinstruments, and other curiosities, keeping with traditional representationsof scholars and academics.
Despite the similarity of these works—especially the figure of the youth,© 2018 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 4 of 9whom Van Loo appears to have plucked from one composition for theother—each of the three scenes has a very different energy. The
amorousness of the couple in Man Holding a Woman on His Knees anddisorder of the scholar’s room in Scholar in His Study endow the paintings
with a dynamic energy that is entirely unlike the sense of quietude andcontemplation that pervades Young Man Reading. That Van Loo executed
the Leiden Collection work after the other paintings is confirmed bytechnical analysis. Infrared reflectography shows that the young man’s
proper right foot was originally smaller and located slightly higher than thatof the youth in Scholar in His Study. Van Loo, perhaps utilizing a now-lostpreliminary drawing, revised the boy’s position when making this work(see technical notes).[5]Fig 4. Gerrit Dou, Prince Rupertof the Palatinate and an Elderly
Man (Probably His Teacher) as
Samuel and Eli, 1631/1632, oil oncanvas, 102.9 x 88.7 cm, J. Paul
Getty Museum, Los Angeles, inv.
no. 84.PA.570

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 amentor or instructor (fig 4), but these are few in number.[6] Generally,
individuals[7]

women,reading

books(asscholars in their studies,opposed[8]toletters)

areelderlyor saints, such as Paul or Jerome.[9]Van Loo’s painting thus occupies a special place in genre imagery ofreading. Showing neither scholar, nor saint, nor student, it is arepresentation of the joy and pleasure of reading, and its ability tocaptivate and engross the mind.
-Alexandra Libby-2018© 2018 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man ReadingPage 5 of 9Endnotes
1. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint,Amsterdam, 1980), 3, 172; Albert Blankert, ed., Dutch Classicism in Seventeenth-CenturyPaintings (Exh. cat. Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen; Frankfurt am Main,
Städelsches 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 on Leiden Collection painting says that the painting dates to the early1660s (138–9, no. P.29). However, correspondence with the author confirms that this date isa typo and ought to have read 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, 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
Research Project (The Hague, Boston, and London, 1982), 356; and Sabine Schulze et al.,
© 2018 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 6 of 9Leselust: Niederländische Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer (Exh. cat. Frankfurt amMain, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt) (Stuttgart, 1993), 142–43, no. 7.
8. For examples by Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723) and Gerrit Dou, see Volker Manuth, ed.,Wisdom, Knowledge and Magic: The Image of the Scholar in Seventeenth-Century DutchArt (Exh. cat. Kingston, Agnes Etherington Art Centre) (Kingston, 1997), 44–45, no. 9; andSabine Schulze et al., Leselust: Niederländische Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer (Exh.
cat. Frankfurt am Main, 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 Schulzeet al., Leselust: Niederländische Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer [Exh. cat. Frankfurt
am Main, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt] [Stuttgart, 1993], no. 5, 136–39, no. 5). In images ofthe four Evangelists, Saint Mark is usually portrayed reading. See Hendrick ter Brugghen’s(1588–1629) St. John in Sabine Schulze et al., Leselust: Niederländische 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, 15March–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.

© 2018 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, August2009–November 2016 [lent by the present owner].
Paris, Museé du Louvre, “Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection: The Age of Rembrandt,”
22 February–22 May 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Beijing, National Museum of China, “Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from The
Leiden 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].

References
Societe d’Agriculture, Sciences et Arts d’Angers. Exposition de Peinture et SculptureAnciennes. Exh. cat. supplement vol., Angers, 1839, 68, no. 793.
Societe 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. Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon; auf Grund archivalischerForschungen bearbeitet. Vienna and Leipzig, 1910, 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 inAmsterdam and Paris.” PhD diss. Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2013, 288, no.
40.
McCarthy, Alexa. “Young Man Reading.” In Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection: TheAge of Rembrandt. Edited by Blaise Ducos and Dominique Surh, 76, no. 28. Exh. cat. Paris,© 2018 The Leiden CollectionYoung Man Reading
Page 8 of 9Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2017.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Young Man Reading.” In Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpiecesof The Leiden Collection. Edited by Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 120, no. 50, 184, no. 50.
Translated by Li Ying. Exh. cat. Beijing, National Museum of China. Beijing, 2017.
Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces from The LeidenCollection. Exh. cat. Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund. Shanghai, 2017, 130–31.

Versions
Versions 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.

Versions Notes

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
and smoothly 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 thejacket and trousers have been created by allowing the light-colored ground to show through thethin brown wash, which contrasts with the darker opaque areas of browns and grays.
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Young Man Reading
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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
chin and 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 wasoriginally smaller 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.

© 2018 The Leiden Collection