Jacob Backer, Werkstatt Lot n° 2041

Jacob Backer, studio of Girl with a Pearl Necklace Oil on panel (parquetted). 38 x 34.5 cm. So far, four versions of Jacob Backer's composition of a girl with a pearl necklace have been discovered. The work presented here now adds a fifth, which Peter van den Brink attributes to Backer's workshop. According to van den Brink, a monogrammed painting in private Dutch ownership is the only version by Backer's own hand (cf. exhib. cat. "Jacob Backer (1608/09-1651)", Museum Het Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam, 29.11.2008-22.2.2009 & Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen, 12.3.7.6.2009, Zwolle, Amsterdam & Aachen 2009, p. 67ff, p. 128, no. 19 as well as p. 229, cat. rais. no. A69). Of the three other versions known so far, one is housed in the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen (inv. no. GK 1487). The girl with a pearl necklace is probably less a portrait than a Tronie. Such head and character studies were particularly popular in Holland and Flanders in the 17th century. We would like to thank Peter van den Brink, who has examined the painting in person, for attributing it to Backer's workshop.