Portrait of the Family Hinlopen

This group portrait, painted by Gabriël Metsu around 1663, shows a well-off family in a luxurious interior, probably one of the canal houses of Amsterdam at the time. For a long time scholars debated which family is depicted, with two main candidates: the Hinlopens and the Valckeniers. It is now increasingly accepted that the sitters are the Hinlopens, largely thanks to the diary of Jan Jacobszoon Hinlopen, in which he recorded births, baptisms and deaths. The identification makes more sense when we consider the events of 1663, the year one of his daughters died of measles and, shortly afterwards, his wife Leonora. The mantelpiece in the background may correspond to a work by Artus Quellinus the Elder in Amsterdam's City Hall, suggesting the painter could have studied it there. The bird held by the boy, which some specialists identify as a parrot, adds a touch of everyday domestic life to the scene.

Painter

Gabriel Metsu

Date

1663

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

72 × 79 cm

Museum

Gemäldegalerie Berlin, Berlin

Genre

portrait

Depicts

Hinlopen family, Sara Hinlopen, Leonora Huydecoper, painting, fireplace mantel, Jan Jacobszoon Hinlopen, family

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