Artwork
Family portrait of Gozewijn Centen
Family portrait of Gozewijn Centen is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Krzysztof Lubieniecki. It dates from 1721 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1721, this oil painting by Krzysztof Lubieniecki portrays a family of four in an outdoor setting. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and exemplifies the refined elegance associated with the Rococo period, while retaining the compositional rigor of the Baroque tradition.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a father, mother, and two children, each dressed in formal attire that signals status and decorum. The father’s dark coat, the mother’s brown dress with a white shawl, and the children’s coordinated garments convey familial unity and the social expectations of early‑18th‑century bourgeois life.
Technique & Style
Lubieniecki employs chiaroscuro to model the figures, using light and shadow to give the scene a palpable sense of depth. The delicate handling of color, especially the blue sky and verdant foliage in the background, reflects Rococo’s lightness, while the overall structure remains rooted in Baroque compositional principles.
History & Provenance
Polish-born Lubieniecki worked in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age, merging his native Baroque training with local tastes. After its creation, the portrait entered private collections before being acquired by the Rijksmuseum, where it remains on display as a representative example of cross‑cultural artistic exchange in early modern Europe.
Artist & collection
Artist
Krzysztof Lubieniecki or Christoffel Lubienietzky (1659–1729) was a Polish Baroque painter and engraver active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age.
