A Young Archer
A Young Archer is an oil painting, painted about 1640 by the Dutch Golden Age artist Govaert Flinck. The painting depicts a young black boy dressed as an archer. The painting is in the collection of the Wallace Collection, in London, England.
Attribution
For many years the painting was believed to have been the work of Rembrandt, and was purchased as such by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, in 1848. Flinck had studied under Rembrandt in 1631–32, and his style had become so closely associated with him that for many years a self portrait by Flinck in the National Gallery, London, was thought to have been a portrait of Rembrandt. Flinck painted numerous works in the style of Rembrandt when there was a demand for his work in the 1630s and 1640s. The true origin of the painting was discovered after it was cleaned in 1913, and the signature believed to be by Rembrandt turned out to have been falsely added later. A signature beginning with the letter "f" was discovered. The painting had been reattributed to Flinck by 1928.Description
The style of the painting is known as a "tronie", meaning "a head, a face, or expression". Tronies were not portraits of named people but character studies of exotic figures.This painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1915, who wrote:
Identity of sitter
Two inscriptions for the portrait exist. The first, an engraving by Cornelis Visscher reads:"Dus heft den Moor met pijl en Boogh / Den vyandt of het wilt in't oogh"
In the 1750 reproduction of Visscher's portrait, held at the British Museum and published by George Pulley of London, the caption below describes the archer as an American Indian, replacing the word Moor for Indian, the words being interchangeable at the time:
Thus Arm'd, the Indian with his Dart & Bow / Pursues with eager Eye, his Woodland Foe
Rembrandt also portrayed people of African origin, including black soldiers and figures in armour. It is not known whether the boy was a model, in the army, or a huntsman of a Dutch country estate. Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon wrote of the subject of A Young Archer in 2004 that
Whether the young man painted by Flinck was actually from the Sudan, or not, it seems likely that the painter intended to show him as a living embodiment of the proud, martial spirit of the Nubian race – a poignant contrast to his actual situation, as a first-generation African slave...The solemn, thoughtful humanity of Flinck's portrayal makes it unusual, among early Western European depictions of black Africans, suggesting at the very least a bond between the artist and the sitter.
The 1750 reproduction of Visscher's portrait, published by George Pulley of London, describes the subject as an Indian, presumably of American origin.