Pair Of Portraits Of Horsemen. 17th-century Dutch School

Dutch School, 17th century.
Oils on oak panels.
One is signed Bloemaert
18 x 18 cm (excluding frame),
30 x 30 cm.
Regency-style carved wood frame.

Pair of portraits of horsemen on horseback. Elegantly dressed, one is galloping and the other at a standstill. Equestrian portraits were very fashionable in the 17th century; painters such as Van der Meulen, Parrocel, and Velázquez, among others, depicted kings on their magnificent mounts. Joseph Parrocel's portraits can be admired at the Palace of Versailles and the Hôtel des Invalides. Juste d'Egmont, a Flemish painter who stayed in France from 1625 to 1628 and a pupil of Rubens, painted the equestrian portrait of the young Louis XIV setting off for the hunt; it can be admired at the Musée Condé in Chantilly.