Aeltje and Trijntje Dircks
Dutch School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1629
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
875 x 700 mm
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Treasurer's House, North Yorkshire
NT 593116
Summary
Oil painting on panel, full-length portraits of two girls seated side by side on a bench, Dutch School, 1629. The elder child (to the right) has a basket of cherries, the younger (to the left) holds an apple in her right hand and a bread roll in her left hand. Both are in white lace-edged caps and white lace-edged collars and are dressed in black tops with long sleeves. The child on the left has a brown skirt with two black braid bands at the bottom under a white linen apron and the one on the right has a grey skirt with three black braid bands at the bottom also worn under a white linen apron. They both wear coral necklaces; the older girl (right) has a cross suspended from hers while the younger (left) has a coral and silver teether. They sit in an interior with a chequered floor and a wall behind. A distant view of trees and cloudy sky is visible through an opening in the wall on the left.
Full description
This work was almost certainly painted in the Northern Netherlands. Unusually, it is labelled not only with a date ('anno 1629'), but also the names and full dates of birth of the two girls.LEFT: 'ao.1628 den 28 maert is / gebooren.aeltje dircks' ('Aeltje Dircks born 28 March 1628'); RIGHT: 'ao.1626.den 24 augustus / is gebooren trijntje dircks' (Trijnte Dircks born 24 August 1626'). (Additional research by Heather Precious and Trish Jay).
Provenance
1930 gift to the National Trust by Francis 'Frank' William Green FSA (1861-1954), as part of the contents of Treasurers House, York.
Credit line
Treasurer’s House, York, The Frank Green Gift (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
LEFT: 'ao.1628 den 28 maert is / gebooren.aeltje dircks'; RIGHT: 'ao.1626.den 24 augustus / is gebooren trijntje dircks'
Makers and roles
Dutch School, artist