An Arie de Vois for Washington

Un Arie de Vois pour Washington

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has acquired a self-portrait by the Dutch Golden Age painter Arie de Vois. The work, painted around 1660, depicts the artist in the guise of a hunter, a role that carried erotic connotations in 17th-century Netherlands—the Dutch words for 'hunting' and 'bird-catching' were slang for courtship and sexuality. This acquisition adds a rare and thematically layered example of De Vois's self-portraiture to the museum's collection.