Lady and Gentleman on Horseback

This large double portrait on horseback is unusual in Dutch art, because equestrian likenesses were initially reserved for sitting monarchs. Traditional portrait convention would have placed the woman to the left and slightly behind the man, yet this elegant lady on her magnificent steed occupies center stage. The identity of the sitters has not been confirmed, but the woman’s prominence indicates her high socioeconomic status. It has been suggested that this double portrait was commissioned in 1654 to celebrate the marriage of Adriaen Stevensz Snouck with Erkenraad Matthisdr Berk, daughter of Aelbert Cuyp’s patron Matthijs Berk, who served as Dordrecht’s chief representative in the States General.

Cuyp originally included a larger hunting party, but then reworked and simplified the composition and modified the two figures. The burdock plants at the left, for instance, conceal several dogs under the overpaint. The man originally wore a bright red military-style tunic and cloak, plus a hat atop his shorter hair, while the woman’s shoulders used to be covered with a plain flat collar. The more refined attire of the woman’s costume points to the shift away from sober black toward the more opulent French style that became fashionable in about 1660. The imaginary background recalls the castles and monasteries that Cuyp had sketched during an earlier trip up the Rhine river valley into Germany.