Portrait of a man by Nicolaes Maes (1634 – 1693)
An after-sale acquired Portrait of a man painted by Rembrandt student Nicolaes Maes (1634 – 1693), provided several pleasant surprises. The specific composition of the painting has made it possible to date the picture within a rather narrow time frame. In this period Maes also produced one of his well known group portraits. The man in our portrait is likely from this group's social circle. Although the condition of the painting was fair it was decided, in close collaboration with our preferred restorer, to remove the varnish which seemed darkened. The bottom left corner was studied thoroughly before placement of a new layer of varnish.

Our expectations were met, parts of  a signature became visible. This matched Maes’ signature in the period in which we dated the painting exactly. The owner now has a signed portait by Nicolaes Maes which can be dated rather precisely and whereby the social group of the sitter has been indentified.

Will we be able to put a name to this face in a later stage? Our research on this painting therefore has not yet been concluded.