Jacob van Reesbroeck

[3] In the period between 1649 and 1653 van Reesbroeck painted his first known work: the Portrait of Edward Hyde, (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium).

Van Reesbroeck received many commissions for portraits from ecclesiastical clients, including Ambrosius Capello and Benedicto Blommaerts.

Van Reesbroeck was also active in local organizations such as the 'sodaliteit der getrouwden', a fraternity for married men established by the Jesuit order.

As van Reesbroeck only signed the portraits of his foreign patrons and the paintings of the church fathers, the attributions of certain works to the artist are not always firm.

As was common at the time, the pendant portraits of Balthasar Moretus II and his wife Anna Goos place the husband on the dominant position on the right.

The red curtain, view to the open sky and an antique column in the background provide the necessary contrast in the picture of Anna Goos.

His whole posture with his shoulders held backwards and his mannered hands conveys an upbringing that attached paramount importance to physical elegance and required children to attend dancing classes to accomplish this goal.

[4] A very elegant Portrait of a Man with a Lute, (Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum) formerly attributed to the Dutch painter Isaack Luttichuys is now given to Jacob van Reesbroeck.

[5] The lively pose and very free handling of certain portions, such as the puffy cuffs, bear a resemblance with the work of van Reesbroeck.

[4] For instance, the Portrait of Cardinal Benedict Blommaerts (British Museum) is now only known through the print made by van Reesbroeck after his own work.