Love triumphant.... - an allegorical painting by Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert and Paul de Vos, 1645

Amor Triumphant Amongst the Emblems of Art, Science, and War - Cupido zegevierend onder de emblemen van kunst en oorlog.

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Study of a Boy's Head, circa 1644-45.

This oil sketch by the artist is almost certainly a preparatory study for the larger work. Obviously a portrait of a child here, Bosschaert has only slightly altered the likeness in transferring the head to the body of an older youth. The sketch is an example of a tronie, a step in the creative process common in workshop practice of the time. Most often originally connected with a specific painting, they would also be included in an artist’s store of patterns and kept in the studio for future use. Frequently copied, in the studio and even by those outside of the studio, they were also sold as independent works of art. Bosschaert's image of the handsome and rather mischievous looking boy would became a favorite with the artist's colleagues, as much as with the artist himself.

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Self-portrait of the artist at twenty-four, 1637.

Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613, Bergen op Zoom – 23 January 1654, Antwerp) Dutch Republic-born Flemish Baroque painter. Born into a Catholic family, he moved to Antwerp in 1628 and entered the studio of Gerard Seghers. Bosschaert's style would be heavily influenced by that of Anthony van Dyck, which has led some scholars to suggest that he may have studied in that studio as well. He later travelled for three years in Germany, Italy, and Spain. And in 1636 or 1637 he became a citizen of Antwerp and was admitted as a master into the Guild of St. Luke; in 1650 became a deacon in the painter’s guild. He ran his own studio with at least nine known pupils, and collaborated with other important artists of the time including Rubens, Paul de Vos, and Frans Snyders. He completed many important commissions for royal and aristocratic clients as well as religious establishments. He was also involved in the decoration of Huis ten Bosch, where he painted seventeen scenes from Greek mythology. He died in Antwerp at the age of only forty.

Searching for information on the allegory and the artist's life, I came across his extraordinarily beautiful self-portrait... and had to share it here.