De landschapschilder Dirk Dalens III (1688-1753) met zijn tweede echtgenote Maria Schaack (gest. 1766) en de kinderen Anna (geb 1725), Willem (1737-60) en Jacobus (1741-63) 1746

Cornelis Troost painted this pastel portrait of the landscape painter Dirk Dalens III with his family sometime before 1750. Pastel is an interesting choice here – literally meaning ‘paste,’ it’s made by grinding pigment with a binder into sticks. Think of it as halfway between drawing and painting. Troost clearly relished the powdery texture of this material, creating soft gradations of color. The very process of pastel lends itself to capturing the leisured refinement of the sitters and their airy, light-filled domestic space. Dalens, palette in hand, directs our gaze to the landscape painting on his easel. This is more than just a family portrait; it's a demonstration of artistic labor, of the painter at work. While Dalens, in his serious artist's garb, gestures toward the canvas, his family engages in the rituals of bourgeois life: tea drinking, map reading, and the appreciation of art objects. Pastel here doesn't just depict status, it embodies it, offering a glimpse into the social fabric of artistic production in the 18th century.