Early 17th-Century French School, Portrait Of The Humanist Denis Godefroy Animals Storms were his raison d’etre

Storms were his raison d’etre - wild conditions that could tear a sail to shreds

Adorned in a sumptuous sheer turquoise gown trimmed with gold lace

including ‘Saskia in Bed’ and other studies by Rembrandt

He appears in a list of Coachman’s Horses in 1785

Provenance: Portugal

Early 17th-Century French School, Portrait Of The Humanist Denis Godefroy Animals Storms were his raison d’etreThis meditative early 17th century oil painting depicts the French jurist and humanist Denis Godefroy (1549 1622), known in Latin as Dionysius Gothofredus, one of Europes most respected scholars. The sitters features closely echo the well known engraved portrait of Godefroy, and are rendered with austere precision. In early 17th century France, portraits such as this were acts of reverence. To own the image of a great jurist, theologian, or