European Drawings 2: Catalogue of the Collections

DAVID BAILLY

1584-1657

THE NUMEROUS FINISHED PORTRAIT DRAWINGS BY

Bailly generally assume a square or oval format, with the

exception of this previously unpublished example and

one other,^1 which are circular. Bailly exploited the cir-

cular format by accentuating the roundness and sym-

metry of the young woman's face, coiffure, and collar, a

tendency that can also be observed in the miniature oil

Portrait of a Woman of 1626 (Rijksmuseum). Among Bail-

ly's female portraits, this sitter most resembles the one in

Claudine van underwater of 1633 (private collection).^2 As

is often noted, his miniaturistic portrait drawings

evolved directly from the tradition of small-scale portrait

drawings and engravings maintained by artists such as

Hendrick Goltzius and Jacques de Gheyn II, as can be

seen in the latter s drawing Bust-Length Portrait of a Lady

(Institut Néerlandais inv. 6860), which is similarly mod-

eled in a hatched and stippled technique employing two

tones of brown ink. Although Bailly's portrait drawings

sometimes appear rather stiff and contrived, in the Mu-

seum's sheet he achieved a particularly felicitous result in

which the straightforward, descriptive character of the

line work complements the relaxed, unprepossessing

mien of the sitter.

1. Formerly Mensing collection; sold, Frederick Muller, Am-
   sterdam, April 27, 1937, lot 16.


2. J. Bruyn, "David Bailly," Oud Holland 66, no. 4 (1951), p.
   213 , fig. TO.

214 DUTCH SCHOOL • BAILLY

go 1 Portrait of a Woman

Pen and light and dark brown ink, pupils scratched by the
artist; diam. 12.8 cm (5 in.)
8y.GA.40
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At right, signed D. bailly
fee. in black ink, dated Ao 1629 in light brown ink.

PROVENANCE: Sale, Christies, Amsterdam, November

18 , 1985, lot 27; art market, London.

EXHIBITIONS: None.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.