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Portrait of a Servant
Also titled Portret van een bediende
Hendrik Pothoven (Amsterdam, ca. –1807)
c. 1780
- Medium
- paper, chalk
- Classification
- drawing
- Dimensions
- height 329 mm x width 210 mm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Credit line
- Purchased with the support of the I.Q. van Regteren Altena Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
About this work
This powerful drawing expresses a sense of tenderness. Rare among figure studies by Pothoven, it work highlights the sitter’s face, suggesting that the artist was captivated by him. Delicate strokes of chalk convey the gentleness of this young man’s downward gaze, in striking contrast to his earring and headdress – common attributes of black servants in elite households during this period.
