Nicolaes II van Ravesteyn had according to Johan van Gool (1751) a flattering art brush (“een vleiend kunstpenseel”).

He portrayed during his long career members of royalty, nobility, high-ranking officers, regents and foreign diplomats. Many of his works go hidden under other attributions (for example to Jan de Baen and to Caspar Netscher), as most of his portraits were not signed (ours is).

This is an excellent, fully signed early portrait (1685), dating from his years in The Hague.

 

 

Dutch painter

Zaltbommel 1661 – 1750 Zaltbommel

 

Portrait painter.

 

Son of the painter Hendrick I van Ravesteyn, who already passed away at a young age in 1670. He only gave his young son some drawing lessons.

 

Probably pupil in his native Zaltbommel of Gerard Hoet.

Pupil in The Hague of Willem Doudyns and of Jan de Baen.

 

Van Ravesteyn settled for a while in The Hague as a portrait painter. He was a member of the local painter’s Guild of Saint Luke. But he returned rapidly to his birthplace Zaltbommel, where he remained until his death in 1750. 

He travelled regularly to portray some of his distinguished clients, such as the Princess of Waldeck in Culemborg (in Gelderland) between 1694 and 1704 or Landgrave Charles I of Hesse – Kassel in Kassel, Germany in 1702.

 

Our painter died at the respectable age of 89.

We are well informed about his life thanks to Johan van Gool, who published a year after our painter’s death his “De nieuwe schouwburg der Nederlantsche kunstschilders en schilderessen : Waer in de levens- en kunstbedryven der tans levende en reets overleedene schilders, die van Houbraken, noch eenig ander schryver, zyn aengeteekend, verhaelt worden [1750/1751] ; Antwoordt op den zoo genaemden brief aen een vrient, [...]”. In this book he dedicated five pages to van Ravesteyn.

 

About our painting

 

Van Ravesteyn must have painted this early portrait in The Hague at the age of 24. One clearly feels the influence of his master Jan de Baen (Haarlem 1633 – 1702 The Hague). After an early career in Amsterdam de Baen had moved circa 1660 to The Hague. De Baen had eight pupils, among them his own son, Jacobus (1673 –  circa 1700), who died at a young age in Vienna, and Johannes Vollevens I (1649 – 1728), Nicolaes van Ravesteyn II (1661 – 1750) and Hendrick van Limborch (1681 – 1759). 

 

Our painter was also influenced by that other important Hague painter, Caspar Netscher (circa 1635/39 – 1684). He was a genre scene painter who, from circa 1670 onwards, specialised in small portraits.

 

 

Because it is one of the best examples of the art of our painter. Clearly he produced his best portraits at an early age, well before 1700. He lived to an old age, until 1750 … .