Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of a Man Holding a Watch

Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt

Date

c. 1665–70

Medium

oil on wood

Culture

Netherlands

Department

European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Held in the hand or displayed in a private domestic space, miniature portraits were designed for intimate viewing. The sitter holds a watch, often a symbol of mortality and the passage of time. Like his colleague Gerrit Dou, Slingelandt was one of the Leiden fijnschilders (fine painters), a group of artists whose paintings were internationally recognized for their extraordinary detail and precise technique. The domed building in the background of this portrait is the Marekerk, one of Leiden's most distinctive architectural landmarks.

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