TILBORGH, Gillis van
(b. ca. 1625, Brussel, d. ca. 1678, Brussel)

Family Portrait

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Oil on canvas, 81 x 101 cm
Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

The stage of the figures of this family portrait is the family home as they wish the world to see it. The head of the family sits in the middle at a set table. His black Sunday clothes with the obligatory hat serve the purpose of the portrait rather than those of the meal. On the other side of the table his wife takes her place, in a yellow dress with a napkin in her lap. They are the ones who introduce the family and the home to us and consequently they are the only ones facing us from the picture.