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The May Queen Richard Brakenburgh

Artist

Richard Brakenburgh Haarlem, 1650 – Haarlem, 1702

Culture Netherlandish
Date 1700
Object type painting
Medium, technique oil on canvas
Dimensions

41.2 × 49 cm

Signature

Signed lower right: R. Brakenburgh

Inventory number 307
Collection Old Master Paintings
On view Museum of Fine Arts, First Floor, European Art 1600–1700 and British Painting 1600–1800, Cabinet 10

Brakenburgh’s style was influenced primarily by the genre scenes of Jan Steen. Like Steen, Brakenburgh also painted several versions of the feast of Saint Nicholas and the May Queen Festival. Despite the efforts made to suppress the worship of the saints and the celebration of “Papist” festivals, folk traditions lived on in the Protestant Netherlands. People continued to exchange gifts on Saint Nicholas Day, and the custom of choosing a May Queen at Pentecost also survived. Brakenburgh’s paintings of these momentous occasions focus on the children. These vibrant, if somewhat theatrical scenes offer a glimpse of what family life and festivals were like in those days. The manner of composition, certain motifs and the arrangement of the figures all bear a close similarity to works by Steen, although Brakenburgh was less accomplished than his model at evoking individual character.

References

Pigler, Andor, Katalog der Galerie Alter Meister, 1-2. Museum der Bildenden Künste, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest. 2, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1967, p. 92.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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