Voet often painted his male sitters in exotic and luxurious chamber robes (or ‘banyan’), as seen here. His bravura portrayal of the flowing grey and gold silk embroidered robe is typical, with a resplendent pink silk lining to match the sitter’s pink bowtie – artfully asymmetrical. It is a confection of texture, continued in the frothy lace cravat, and the sitter’s softly curling hair. The young man’s face is equally sensitively rendered with soft highlights to the nose and eyes, and a pink blush to his cheeks, while the seriousness of his expression is in contrast to his youthfulness. Voet subtly individualises the young man’s features, with his dandy moustache and distinctly bushy eyebrows. Previously thought to depict John Offley Crewe (1681 – 1749) – an impossible identification due to the painting’s dating between 1670 and 1675 – it more likely depicts his father, John Offley of Madeley in Staffordshire and latterly Crewe Hall (1650 – 1688).

Flemish by birth, Jakob Ferdinand Voet’s artistic ambition led him first to Rome and then on to Paris, where his stylish technique and attention to costume was eagerly endorsed by the most fashionable and eminent sitters. The artist’s phenomenal success was in part due to his renowned affability, enabling him to obtain the favour of new patrons and to maintain his professional relations with all the major families of the Roman nobility. He travelled extensively in Italy, executing numerous commissions in Como and Milan and it is probable that he also travelled to Genoa, and certainly to Florence, Modena and Parma.[2] His tenure in Rome, from 1663 – 1679, was consistently marked by patronage from the Papal court and the local aristocracy, including the Mancini and Colonna families.[3] 

Voet is perhaps best remembered for his series of Les Belle Romanes – a great set of portraits of the most enchanting women of Rome. Inspired by the Mancini sisters, these portraits from 1672 onwards included sitters from the Chigi, Savoia and Massimo families, as well as other celebrated Italian dynasties. The paintings were so popular that the artist was repeatedly asked to reproduce replicas and versions. After working mainly in Italy, his reputation was such that he spent the last years of his life as ‘Pittore del Re’ – official portraitist to the Sun King, Louis XIV, in Paris.[4]  With such international production, his fame even surpassed that of Pierre Mignard, Carlo Maratta, Giovanni Maria Morandi and Baciccio, his main rivals in the genre.