The Sculpture Gallery of the Felix Meritis Society

Executed in a Biedermeirian idiom, the work relies on chiaroscuro to separate the sculptural forms from the darkened walls, allowing the marble surfaces to appear luminous. De Lelie’s brushwork balances fine detail in the figures’ drapery with broader, atmospheric strokes that convey the room’s ambient light, creating a subtle interplay of texture and volume.

Born in Tilburg in 1755, de Lelie trained with artists such as A. Peeters and Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont before establishing a career in Amsterdam, chiefly as a portraitist and cabinet‑painter. The canvas entered the Rijksmuseum’s collection in the twentieth century, where it remains part of the institution’s holdings of Dutch art from the early nineteenth century.