Portrait of a Little Boy, Possibly Louis of Nassau 1604

This portrait of a young boy, possibly Louis of Nassau, was made anonymously with oil on panel. Although the identity of the artist is unknown, they likely came from a fine art painting tradition. But I find my eye drawn to other forms of making: the child’s clothing. Look closely and you’ll see the lace on the boy’s collar and bonnet. This was bobbin lace, made using a complex process involving many bobbins to interweave threads, and was a specialized craft, often done by women working at home. It was an incredibly labor-intensive process that gave rise to a valuable commodity; its qualities of delicacy and transparency indicate the wealth of the wearer. The great contrast between the slow-made lace and the facility of oil paint reveals a lot about the social economy of the time. It reminds us that we should look beyond the canonical traditions of fine art to appreciate the full range of creative activity on display here.