2-979-591 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Gerhard Douw's Portrait of Himself, 1857. Engraving of "An Interior with a Young Viola Player", a painting by Dutch artist Gerrit Dou (1613-1675). It had been believed to be a self-portrait of Douw, '...seated in his study in full gala costume, booted and spurred - which, by-the-by, does not exactly agree with the violin in his hand and the book of black letter lore open before him. In the background hang cloak and sword, a beer-barrel and a pair of globes complete the heterogeneous collection suggestive of Gerhard's various accomplishments in music and literature, and of a want of that severe congruity which is not to be looked for in the productions of the domestic painters of Holland'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.