plate no. 2110

Portrait of Jan de Reus

oilBaroqueportraitportraitfiguremanclothinghairdrapery

recreation guide

Nicolaes Maes’s 'Portrait of Jan de Reus' (1680) represents the artist’s mature style, characterized by a shift from the austere, dark-background portraits of his early career to a lighter, more elegant aesthetic influenced by Flemish and French portraiture (Source 3). By 1680, Maes was the leading portrait painter in Amsterdam, catering to a prosperous mercantile class who favored sophisticated staging over the somber Calvinist restraint of earlier Dutch traditions (Source 4, Source 7). The work likely employs the standardized formats Maes used during this period, potentially featuring a half-length or three-quarter-length figure set against a lighter background, possibly a garden or terrace, reflecting the 'lighter spirit of the times' (Source 3).

estimated time

20-30 hours over 5-7 sessions

materials

4 items

steps

5 in sequence

materials

item	purpose	modern equivalent
Oil paints (White Lead, Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre, Black, Ultramarine, Vermilion/Cinnabar)	Primary pigments for underpainting and glazing, consistent with historical palettes described in sources.	Titanium White (for safety, though Lead White is historically accurate), Cadmium Yellow/Red, Ivory Black, Ultramarine Blue.
Linseed Oil or Oil of Copavia	Medium for mixing paints, specifically noted by Reynolds as used by old masters for first and second paintings.	Stand Oil or Linseed Oil.
Varnish	Mixed with oil for later glazing stages to gain mastery over transparent coats.	Dammar Varnish or Synthetic Resin Varnish.
Canvas	Support for the oil painting.	Linen canvas, primed.

preparation

surface prep

The canvas should be prepared with a ground suitable for oil painting. While specific ground recipes for Maes are not detailed in the sources, the practice of the 'old masters' involved preparing a surface that could support glazing and scumbling (Source 1). A neutral or slightly warm ground is often preferred for this technique to allow the underlying tones to influence the final color.

underdrawing

Sources do not explicitly describe Maes’s underdrawing method for this specific portrait. However, as a pupil of Rembrandt and a master of the Dutch Golden Age, he likely employed a loose, fluid underdrawing to establish composition and light before applying paint. The focus in the sources is on the painting process rather than the drawing stage.

underpainting

The process likely begins with a monochrome underpainting (grisaille). Source 1 describes a method where the artist mentally extracts red and yellow colors, painting the remaining tones in black, ultramarine, and white (or similar earth tones) to establish form and value. This grisaille must be quite dry before proceeding to color (Source 1).

color palette

White

White Lead or Chalk White

Highlights and mixing for lighter tones in the grisaille and final layers.

Black

Ivory Black or Vine Black

Shadows and defining forms in the grisaille stage.

Yellow Ochre

Natural Ochre

General use in the palette; ancient artists used this for fixedness and covering (Source 2).

Red Ochre/Vermilion

Red Ochre or Cinnabar (Vermilion)

Flesh tones and clothing accents; applied via glazing and scumbling.

Ultramarine

Shadows and cool tones in the grisaille and final glazes.

composition

Maes’s mature portraits from the 1670s and 1680s often featured sitters in elegant gardens or against sunset skies, with a free brushstroke and emphasis on gestures and poses (Source 3). The composition likely avoids the 'swagger and excessive rhetoric' of aristocratic Baroque portraiture, favoring a more restrained but elegant presentation typical of Dutch burgher portraits (Source 5). The sitter may be leaning against a prop such as a column or rock, consistent with Maes’s standardized formats for three-quarter-length figures (Source 3).

step by step

underpainting→first pass→refining→finishing

underpainting

step 01
Create a grisaille (monochrome underpainting) using black, ultramarine, and white. Mentally extract red and yellow tones to focus on form and value.
Tip — Ensure the grisaille is quite dry before proceeding to color layers.
Grisaille

first pass

step 02
Apply transparent glazes of yellow and red tones over the dry grisaille. Use oil as a medium initially.
Tip — Glazing is a transparent coat of color that allows the underlying painting to show through.
Glazing

refining

step 03
Use scumbling (semi-opaque painting) to adjust tones and create effects like a 'grey bloom' over darker grounds.
Tip — Scumbling tends to coldness when employed over a darker ground; use it to refine highlights and mid-tones.
Scumbling

finishing

step 04
As mastery is gained, mix varnish with oil for subsequent glazing layers to deepen colors and unify the surface.
Tip — This method was practiced by old masters to achieve rich, luminous colors.
Varnish Glazing
step 05
Pay attention to the simultaneous contrast of colors, ensuring that adjacent tones modify each other correctly to avoid inaccurate color perception.
Tip — The eye may see colors inaccurately due to mixed contrast; adjust tones to reflect the true interaction of adjacent hues.
Simultaneous Contrast

critical techniques

Glazing and Scumbling

Used to build up color and luminosity over a dry monochrome underpainting. Glazing adds transparent color, while scumbling adds semi-opaque layers to modify tone and texture.

Monochrome Underpainting (Grisaille)

Establishes form and value without the distraction of color, allowing for precise control over light and shadow before introducing hue.

Simultaneous Contrast

Understanding how adjacent colors influence each other’s appearance to achieve accurate color harmony and tonal balance.

common pitfalls

→Applying color layers before the grisaille is completely dry, which can lead to muddying and loss of clarity (Source 1).
→Ignoring the effects of simultaneous contrast, leading to inaccurate color perception and disharmonious tones (Source 6).
→Over-modeling or becoming too tied to outlines, which can result in a stiff, lifeless appearance; Maes’s later style favored a free brushstroke (Source 3, Source 8).
→Using a palette that is too limited or too complex without understanding the chemical stability of pigments; earths and ochres are recommended for their fixedness and covering power (Source 2).

what the sources don't tell us

Where the corpus is silent, we say so rather than guess. These are the gaps a complete recreation guide would normally cover that our source passages don't.

·Specific details of Jan de Reus’s clothing, jewelry, or facial expression are not described in the sources.
·The exact dimensions and format (half-length vs. three-quarter-length) of this specific portrait are not confirmed, though Maes’s standard formats are described.
·Maes’s specific underdrawing technique for this work is not documented in the provided sources.
·The specific background setting (garden, terrace, or dark) for this particular portrait is not explicitly stated, though general trends are noted.

grounded in

The technical procedure in this guide traces to the following classical art-instruction texts.

The Practice of Oil Painting↗
- COLOURING A MONOCHROME — applied to Underpainting, glazing, and scumbling techniques.
Laws of Contrast of Colour↗
- 315-318 — applied to Color theory and simultaneous contrast.
The Science of Painting↗
- CHAPTER V. COLOURING SUBSTANCES — applied to Palette selection and pigment properties.

cross-referenced from

Named facts about this artwork and artist were checked against these reference pages.

Wikipedia bio — Nicolaes Maes↗
- part 4 — applied to Style evolution, composition, and standardized formats.
Wikipedia: Dutch Golden Age painting↗
- part 8 — applied to Context of Dutch portrait conventions.

Read more about the corpus on the sources page and how the guides are built on the methods page.

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