The van der Graeff Family

Johannes Mytens's The van der Graeff Family presents four figures in a lush landscape: a seated man in a rich red velvet doublet, a standing woman in a silvery-blue gown, and two young girls, one in yellow with a basket and the other in pale blue who reaches toward the woman, with a small dog at the girl’s feet. A cherub hovers in the clouds above a rocky outcrop, adding a decorative Baroque touch to the composition. The scene is arranged in a triangular, naturalistic tableau with careful attention to the textures of velvet and satin, set against a soft, expansive landscape of trees, fields, and a distant town, and a palette that contrasts warm reds and golds with cool blues and greens.