Double Portrait

The Belvedere names neither of these two people. It lists the canvas simply as a double portrait, so what we learn about them comes from the picture itself. The man sits at a desk in a fur cap and a red velvet gown trimmed with fur, the loose clothes a gentleman wore at home among his books and papers, with a quill standing in the inkwell beside him. His finger rests on a sheet lettered in Latin. The writing faces him, so to us it reads upside down, and it gives the year 1740 in Roman numerals and says he was then living his 60th year. The young woman at his side, in a gold bodice and striped silk with lace at the elbows, holds out a small open box, and his hand is already reaching into it.