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Notes
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This isn’t a portrait – it is an allegory, an attempt to represent an idea or ideal. Interpreting the symbolism, however, is difficult. We see a young man, upright and slightly aloof as he turns his head to look us directly in the eye. The figure may be based on a book of iconology by Cesare Ripa which was published around this time. It includes an illustration of a sumptuously dressed woman wearing a wreath and breastplate and carrying a sceptre, and is captioned as Merit. If this was de Poorter’s intention here, then we might understand the image as an embodiment of Merit assuming worldly power, and so representing the Just Ruler. He stands literally enlightened by the sunshine from the high window, the sceptre indicating his authority; the crowns, his regal status; the cuirass (breastplate) his strength.
Title
An Allegorical Subject (The Just Ruler)
Date
probably 1636
Medium
Oil on oak
Measurements
H 50.2 x W 37.5 cm
Accession number
NG1294
Acquisition method
Presented by T. Humphrey Ward, 1889
Work type
Painting
