This tender depiction of a young boy is a study for Anthony van Dyck’s Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me, now in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. As noted by Nora de Poorter in the 2004 artist’s catalogue raisonné, the Ottawa canvas ‘ranks among the most beautiful historicising paintings of the seventeenth century because of its verisimilitude, the simplicity of the composition and its superb pictorial quality’. That work was widely admired in the 18th Century, and occupied a place of honour in Blenheim Palace, seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, where it hung from 1718 to 1886.

Seated amidst the apostles, Christ admonishes them for having prevented the children from being brought to him to be blessed, saying ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for such is the kingdom of God’ (Mark 10:14). He blesses a boy with clasped hands and eyes devoutly cast down, the subject of our study, while another three children are presented to Him by their parents.

The liveliness and naturalness of the individual figures, as well as their distinctively rendered features, support the assumption that this is a portrait historié of a family. The choice of narrative episode for the portrayal of a family is particularly appropriate: no other biblical theme assigns such a significant role to children. According to Ludwig Burchard, the reason for commissioning this group portrait might have been the eldest son’s first communion, although this is difficult to prove. Whatever the reason, Van Dyck emphasised family solidarity, and gave expression to the piety of the parents who reverently bring to Christ those whom they cherish most.

Several scholars, notably Klara Garas, Ellis Waterhouse, and Alan McNairn,[1] have endorsed the theory that the family depicted is that of Van Dyck’s master, Sir Peter Paul Rubens. The husband and wife at right resemble Rubens and his first wife Isabella Brant, and the blond infant also resembles Rubens’ drawings of his son Nikolaas (b. March 1618) at around the same age. The little girl may perhaps be identified as Clara-Serena (b. March 1611), and the boy with clasped hands, also the subject of our study, as Rubens’ eldest son Albert (b. June 1614). While several scholars have rejected this identification – the unidentified fourth child in the lower right corner contributing a key counterargument – the weight of circumstantial evidence remains compelling. It is perhaps also telling that when the Ottawa canvas was sold from Blenheim Palace in 1886, it was thought to be by Rubens himself.

Further studies for the Ottawa painting have been identified in recent years: a sketch for the father sold at Sotheby's New York in 2014, and one for the apostle to the left of Christ was sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2010. Van Dyck frequently composed oil sketches on paper in preparation for compositions involving large groupings of figures; our sketch, however, is a rare survival of a portrait study, and as such it is distinct from a generic character study, such as that made for the apostle.

Van Dyck typically executed his head studies in oil on paper, which he favoured for its textured surface and quick drying, absorbent qualities, making it an ideal support for quickly-sketched life studies. It is clear that the characterisation of the sitter was of primary importance, and thus the paint is more concentrated and heavily worked-up in the head, while the collar, hands and background are only cursorily indicated.

A workshop version of this sketch, showing the boy without hands, is in the Museé du Louvre, Paris (inv. no. 1961-83). That study was also offered in the 1926 Warneck sale and its inclusion alongside the present sketch led in the past to the assumption that the Louvre picture was also an autograph work. The quality, however, is inferior to that of the present study and therefore it is now generally regarded as a copy.

A note on the provenance:

This painting was first recorded in London on 12 August 1695, as part of the collection of James Hamilton, then Earl of Arran and later 4th Duke of Hamilton: ‘A head of a boy with two hands by Van Dyck.’[2] It remained in the Hamilton family for years, first in London and then at their palaces in Scotland, where it was documented in 1704 at Kinneil House in Bo’ness and 1759 at Hamilton Palace near Hamilton.[3] On 8 July 1882, it was sold by the 12th Duke, William Alexander Louis Stephen, as part of the dispersal of his collection at Christie’s in London. It was acquired by the Paris-based dealer Édouard Warneck, remaining in his possession until his collection was sold at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris in 1927.[4]

[1] A. McNairn, The Young Van Dyck/Le juene Van Dyck, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1980.

[2] A list of the right honourable The Earl of Arans Pictures at London, 12 August 1695, no. 15. Hamilton inventories (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Beckford manuscripts).

[3] Oxford, Bodleian Library, Beckford manuscripts, ms. 12, no. 273, and ms. 13, no. 72, respectively.

[4] Frits Lugt, Collection Warneck [auction catalogue, Galerie George Petit] Paris, 1926, p. 52, no. 37.