The painting has often been discussed as one of the finest representations of Nicolaas Rubens and is frequently compared with other works associated with him, such as the painting in the
Royal Collection at
Buckingham Palace known as
The Falconer, which critics have often attributed to Peter Paul Rubens. In the face of the youthful hunter, some scholars have identified the artist’s son, Nicolaas Rubens. This interpretation, however, has never achieved unanimous acceptance. Doubts have frequently been raised both regarding the attribution to Rubens and the identity of the depicted figure. At one point, the emergence on the
Chicago art market between the two World Wars of another
Falconer, or Portrait of Nicolaas Rubens, seemed likely to clarify the issue. It was initially believed that this work represented a preparatory sketch for the London painting. Soon, however, similar uncertainties arose among experts: the Chicago painting’s status as an autograph work began to be questioned. Today, the painting, preserved at the
Art Institute of Chicago, is catalogued as “attributed to Peter Paul Rubens.” It may be argued that the appearance of a third painted Portrait of Nicolaas Rubens, held in the Mimara Museum in Zagreb, provides a resolution to this longstanding problem. On the basis of numerous stylistic characteristics, this work can be identified as an authentic late-period sketch by Rubens, which likely served as a preliminary study for the Chicago painting and, ultimately, for the final composition of
The Falconer in London. The earliest known depiction of Nicolaas is considered to be the drawing
Child with a Coral Necklace (
Albertina, Vienna). ==Gallery==