Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck - Boy Sleeping in a High Chair

Sometimes so very little is known about an artist’s life, that the images they leave behind are the only glimpses we have into their internal world. Such is the case with an elusive 17th century Dutch artist Johannes Verspronck. Even his date of birth is not certain – he was born in Haarlem sometime between 1597 and 1609.

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The scarce facts of Verspronck’s life do not shed much light on his shrouded figure. We know, for instance, that his father Cornelis Engelsz, was also a painter and that’s how Verspronck had probably received his artistic training. He never married. He lived most of his life with his parents and spent the remaining years in a house that he shared with his brother and sister.

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Verspronck’s portrait of a little boy, napping in his high chair after finishing his supper, is achingly poignant. We know it’s a little boy from the style of collar with tassels that he wears – girls didn’t wear such rectangular linen collars.

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The image is a dummy board - a cut out, painted panel designed to be displayed as a trompe-l’oeil three-dimensional object.

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We don’t know who the little boy is, we don’t even know with certainty if it is a portrait. The boy’s features and other intimate details of the painting are so personal that it is highly likely Verspronck was depicting a real sleeping boy. The portrait is very informal so it is also likely that Verspronck possibly created this lovely picture for family friends.

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The imperfections in the wooden door of the high chair are very distinct - Verspronck must have seen that chair many times. The sullen and a tad grumpy looking cat does not give the impression that it and Verspronck were the best of friends.

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The sense of peace that emanates from the boy’s sleepy, floppy figure draws us in and wraps us up into a warm, cosy blanket. His mum or dad gently moved the bowl of porridge out of the way of his relaxed hand, about to drop a spoon. The cat might rub its’ grumpy cheek on that escapee of a yellow little foot. And that might wake the boy up. He might smile, remembering the delicious dream that he just saw.

Boy Sleeping in a High Chair, 1654, private collection