STOM, Matthias
(b. ca. 1600, Amersfoort, d. after 1650, Sicily)

Young Man Reading by Candlelight

1628-32
Oil on canvas, 59 x 74 cm
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Matthias Stom is believed to have been a pupil of Gerrit van Honthorst in Utrecht, before going to Rome in 1628. He mainly painted genre pieces and biblical subjects. His works differ from Honthorst's in that the faces of his subjects are more highly elaborated and have broader features and more furrows. His paintings make use of a warmer palette, dominated by reds and yellows. While in Rome Stom painted several genre pieces like the present work.