Why is this portrait so popular? Because it depicts an adorable child dressed in her Sunday best? As was the custom of the day, the young girl is portrayed as a small adult lady. That she is playing a role is betrayed only by her facial expression. Unfortunately, we know nothing about her identity or her family. [See below] Perhaps she resided in Haarlem, like the portraitist Verspronck. [https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-3064] Girl in a Blue Dress, also called Portrait of a Girl Dressed in Blue (Dutch: Portret van een meisje in het blauw) or simply Portrait of a Girl (Dutch: Portret van een meisje), is an oil painting by Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. It was acquired by the museum in 1928 as a gift from the Vereniging Rembrandt. In 1912 the wealthy merchant and art collector Mari Paul Voûte (1856-1928) became chairman of the Vereniging Rembrandt. At the end of World War I, when Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg was forced to abdicate and needed to downsize, his art collection came on the market and in 1923 the Vereniging Rembrandt formed a consortium with senior members to purchase artworks from this collection at their own risk in order to give them to the Amsterdam museum. The Girl in Blue was one of these artworks purchased by Voûte. Rather than giving it directly to the museum, however, he kept it until he died, whereupon he bequeathed it to the Vereniging Rembrandt for them to make over to the Rijksmuseum, which they did. The painting is very similar in composition to Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich Feather Fan, a pendant marriage portrait painted by Verspronck the year before, today in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Twenthe. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_in_a_Blue_Dress] The Dutch version of the Wikipedia article about this painting includes this information: During the Golden Age the power in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands came to regents, from the well-to-do bourgeoisie. This new group of rulers had their own portraits painted often, and also their children. What is special is that children in the 17th century were often portrayed as small adults. Examples can be found in the work of prominent painters such as Gerard ter Borch, Dirck Santvoort, Wybrand de Geest and Caesar van Everdingen. Perhaps the best-known children's portrait from the 17th century is Verspronck's Girl in Blue, seen in the Rijksmuseum. On 15 September 1945 her picture appeared on the new Dutch banknote of 25 guilders. The identity of the girl in blue has always remained unknown, but it is undeniable that the painting has been commissioned by a wealthy family. Perhaps she came from Haarlem, where Verspronck lived. She wears beautiful clothing and expensive jewelery, depicted by Verspronck in great detail and refinement. Her dress is covered with gold brocade. The lace collar and cuffs are extremely modern for that time. Pearls and a feather fan complete her image. The girl stands against a neutral, uniform background, separate from the environment, whereby all attention is focused on her person. This is accentuated by a subtle play of light and shadow.... With a twinkle in her dark eyes she looks at the viewer. The work is intriguing to this day, perhaps not so much because of the technical talent with which it is painted, but mainly because of the contradiction between her childish innocence and the notable straitjacket of her expensive adult clothing, which in contemporary terms is remarkable. [Google translation of text at https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portret_van_een_meisje_in_het_blauw] Verspronck didn’t portray the child in an idealized way, but instead used all means to present her as convincingly as possible. He made efforts to show us the many details of her blue dress and the texture of the different materials; the gold lace, the jewelry and the ostrich feather. The lighting makes the girl’s sensitive features appear very lively to us. In her fashionable dress she looks older than she actually is: circa 10 years old. Until the end of the eighteenth century children were assumed to be small adults and treated and clothed as such. We have no idea of her name, but the Rijksmuseum Twenthe (an excellent art museum in the city of Enschede) owns two pendant paintings that are, very probably, portraits of the girl’s parents. These two works are considered highlights in Verspronck’s oeuvre as well, and I sometimes wonder who that family might have been that inspired the artist to create these wonderful pieces of art. [http://rijksmuseumamsterdam.blogspot.nl/2010/10/johannes-verspronck-girl-in-blue-dress.html] The Rijksmuseum Twente sheds further light: ...Who the man and woman in the paintings are unknown, but it is clear that a married couple is pictured here. Verspronck also painted their daughter: the famous Girl in Blue (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).... A Family Tragedy More than 40 family portraits come to life in the Lief en Leed exhibition. The portraits are by no means always truthful; children or wives are later repainted, deceased relatives are presented as living figures, or figures are painted away. Behind every portrait is a story. Together they tell about the love and suffering of family life. Also in the unknown family of Verspronck, a family tragedy has taken place. Verspronck also painted the portrait of the grandfather of the girl and the whole family was in the collection of the dukes of Oldenborg. Grand Duke Friedrich August van Oldenborg was forced to sell part of the painting collection in 1922. At the sale the Girl in Blue was separated from her parents. Totally alone, she went to theRijksmuseum's gallery of honor while her parents and grandfather left for the United States. After a bit of wandering, the father and mother ended up in Enschede, when Gerrit Jan van Heek Jr. donated the portraits to the museum. [Google translation of text at https://www.rijksmuseumtwenthe.nl/content/2207/nl/restauratie-verspronck] See her parents in Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich Feather Fan, 1640, and Portrait of a Man, 1640, both by Verspronck.