Portrait of Georg Pfründt (1603-1663), bust-length

The sitter, Georg Pfründt, was a German medalist and engraver who studied under Jean Varin (1604-1672), head of the French mint, in Paris from 1644 to 1646. Nicolaes van Helt Stockade served as a court painter to King Louis XIII between 1637 and 1645 and probably executed this painting shortly before 1639, when both he and Pfründt were active in Paris. Another version of this portrait by Helt Stockade is in the collection of the Staatsgalerie im Neuen Schloss, Oberschleissheim, suggesting that the two works may have been produced as friendship portraits, one of which would have been retained by the sitter and the other by the artist.

This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne on the artist.