In the Glow of Candlelight

This article examines how the Dutch classicist painter Nicolaas Verkolje, exploring his artistic possibilities in the category of genre painting from the mid-1690s, made full use of the popularity of Schalcken's candlelight pictures and associated himself with this internationally famous artist. Verkolje not only made prints after Schalcken, but he also adopted subjects and motifs from Schalcken's night scenes in his own paintings and prints, such as the attractive female figure in nighttime attire. Research into eighteenthcentury sales catalogues and documents, plus two new proposed attributions, contribute to a clearer picture of Verkolje's successful strategy toward Schalcken.