Hendrick Ter Brugghen

(L'Aia, 1588 - Utrecht, 1629)

Circle of

Oil on canvas

cm. 66,5x48. Framed

This portrait deserves a place in the literature on Ter Brugghen in the chapter dedicated to the recurring motif of the smiling maidens. Indeed, its direct derivation from the female protagonist of the famous Badly Assorted Couple, monogrammed “HTB”, now in private collection, is evident. The theme was particularly appreciated in the area of the Utrecht Caravaggesque painters, also for its variegated allegorical potential, and returns in Ter Brugghen's catalogue, amongst others, in the Lute Player with Maiden formerly Bruno Meissner, Zurich, as well as, developed as a single figure, in the Girl with Sheet of Paper in the Kunstmuseum Basel and in the Allegory of Taste in the Getty Museum, Los Angeles.