Frank Stella on Jan Sanders van Hemessen’s 'Double Portrait' | Christie's

The American abstract painter Frank Stella purchased this intriguing Old Master painting at a Christie’s auction in the 1980s. Here he elaborates on his affection for the ‘spectacular’ double portrait. In 1532 the Flemish artist Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1504-1556) was in his Antwerp studio putting the finishing touches to what was one of his most important commissions to date. The work, titled 'Double Portrait' of a husband and wife, half-length, seated at a table, playing tables, was created to celebrate the wedding of a local couple whose names are now lost to time but are thought to have been a wealthy Flemish burgher and his new wife. Van Hemessen had spent part of the previous decade travelling across Italy, where he studied the recently unearthed Laocoön sculpture, on display in the Vatican, and contemporary Renaissance works by Michelangelo and Raphael. Find out more: http://bit.ly/2IOcARb -- Subscribe to Christie's YouTube: http://goo.gl/Vmh7Hf Sign up to Christie's Weekly: https://goo.gl/kc8qpV Follow Christie's on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/2elC9Zg Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristiesInc Instagram: http://bit.ly/2iJ3lGm Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2elCafM