Moridin

Hi all,
I'm hoping someone can help me here. I remember seeing a family portrait painting many years ago, and while the details are vague, the image was striking. I'm fairly certain the period was either medieval or slightly later, but was almost certainly pre-Victorian. It was a family portrait, with a husband, wife and some kids, but the striking part that I remember so well was that the man had his hand down the front of his wife's dress, apparently holding one of her breasts. I have tried every search imaginable on G00gle and turned up some pretty weird results as you can imagine. I would greatly appreciate some help in trying to identify this painting and artist.
Many thanks in advance,
Moridin

Moridin

If no-one can help identify the painting, is the somewhere online I can go to browse old portrait paintings? A kind of online library?

Moridin

I've tried Wikimedia, which was the best categorised, but still to no avail. Anyone got any ideas? Or should I let this post die?

John

We need to narrow it down a bit. Of the artists whose portraits you have been looking at, who would you compare it to? Sounds Dutch to me, at a wild guess. They had a pretty earthy sense of humor, or at least the working class did. Not so much those black-clad merchants.

Moridin

Thanks a million John. I've been unable to find anything exactly like it, but from memory I think it was in the style of the following pictures:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...-_WGA20032.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...offany_005.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...rEmanuelI2.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...lavecimbel.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...Art_Museum.JPG

Please bear in mind I am not an artist, so all of the above might be in different "styles", I don't know. They just remind me of the picture. As far as I remember, the wife was seated (maybe at a table), the husband was standing behind and to her right (our left), with the kids maybe spread out around them, (not quite sure about that). The painting wasn't very dark, but wasn't full of light either.

Moridin

Were those pictures of any help to anyone?

saintmarc

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSear...E=2C6NU039G4FW

Found with the Google search
" portrait painting on the breast of his wife (advanced search : these exact words :-on the breast of his wife)"
first answer of only two
I was sure I did have seen this rare gesture in the Renaissance painting

John

Excellent find, although based on the original description I'm not sure this is the painting.

Moridin

Great detective work saintmarc, I had seen that one whilst searching, but it isn't the one I am referring to unfortunately. The one I remember is actually slightly later in style I would imagine, and the man is standing more formally and on the other side of his wife. Also, his hand isn't on her clothes as in your example, but actually down the front of them apparently holding her breast (although this cannot actually be seen). Also, from memory, the wife's dress(?) was cut low enough in the front to allow the man's hand access but not low enough to be scandalous.

Moridin

Is there any online repository of artworks I can trawl through seeking this picture?
I'm currently looking through this site:
http://oilpaintingshop.com/catalog.htm

Moridin

Still no luck :-(
I'll bump this post once again to see if there are any further ideas, then I'll leave you people in peace. Thanks for reading. :-)

John

I just stumbled upon this picture by Vermeer and thought of this thread. It doesn't match the description very closely, but here it is anyway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ja..._Delft_002.jpg

saintmarc

We are building a new category:
-Landscape
-Portrait
-Still-life
-Boorishness!

thatcomedian

Don't you mean Boobishness

Moridin

Thanks for that John, unfortunately it's not the one, but thanks anyway.