Jan Miense Molenaer
, Dutch, 1609/10-1668
Title
Self-Portrait of the Artist in his StudioDatec.1632-1633
MediumOil on panel
Dimensions
40 × 37 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 2025
Object numberNGI.2025.26
DescriptionThis scene is a seventeenth-century retelling of the death of the classical artist Zeuxis. A comical-looking old woman asked Zeuxis to paint her from life. So amused was Zeuxis by his resulting portrait that he fell into uncontrollable fits of laughter and died. In place of Zeuxis, however, Molenaer uses his own likeness. This is a remarkably interactive painting, as the laughing artist turns to face the viewer. It is up to us whether we should laugh along, or reproach the artist’s insolence. This humorous approach to subjects resonates with Fran Hals, who is thought to have taught MolenaerProvenanceThe Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert (1693-1769), Highclere Castle, Newbury, Berkshire; by descent, the Earls of Carnarvon, Highclere Castle, Newbury, Berkshire (as by Anthonie Palamedesz.); Henry Herbert (1898-1987), 6th Earl of Carnarvon, Newbury, Berkshire; The Earl of Carnarvon Collection sale, Sotheby’s London, 3 February 1954, lot 58 (as by Dirck Hals) for 170,000 guineas to D. Vanderkar; Sold by Dennis Vanderkar (1919-1992), London, to Dr Bertil Rapp (1915-1959), Stockholm, 1954; Sale, Nordén Auctioneer, Stockholm, 24 November 1992, lot 128; Sold to private collection (Europe), 1992; Acquired from the above by David M. Koetser Gallery, Zurich; Purchased, 2025.Exhibition HistoryJudith Leyster: A Dutch Master and her World, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 16 May 1993 - 22 August 1993
The Art of Laughter: humour in Dutch Paintings of the Golden Age, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 11 November 2017 - 18 March 2018