The ermine catches the light before the faces do. A custom couple portrait from photo, painted in the Casati style, opens on a man in a fur-trimmed velvet mantle holding a pince-nez, and a woman beside him in a rose silk gown with an embroidered brocade robe and a folded fan raised to the curtain. The drapery behind them is heavy and dark. One warm source does the rest of the work, deep shadow on the left, a single highlight on the pearl strand, the lace jabot lifting off the velvet. This is a baroque sitting composed for a wall, and it reads that way from across the room.
The Casati style suits couples and families who want the theatrical version of themselves in oil. Anniversary commissions, engagement gifts, the painting that goes above the fireplace and stays there for a decade. It carries the register of an oil painting family portrait without sliding into costume parody. The lace cuffs hold their own weight against the velvet. Visible brushwork lifts the ermine and the gold thread of the embroidered hem, so the fur reads as fur and the brocade reads as woven cloth. A custom couple portrait in this register also handles the harder requests with grace: a family portrait built from separate reference photos, every face sharing the same candlelight on a single canvas, the kind of vintage family portrait depth that competitors quote weeks and four figures to attempt. Buyers reaching for a painting family portrait usually land here for that reason, the aristocratic oil-style portrait that still recognisably looks like the people in it.
Here is how Fable handles the commission. You upload reference photos, a clear shot of each face, decent light, no heavy sunglasses. Fable composes the figures in the Casati style and builds them in the classical indirect oil method, a warm umber ground, opaque flesh tones, translucent glazes for skin and fabric. The painter's flattery is applied with restraint, so each subject reads as themselves on a well-slept day, five to eight years younger at their best, still unmistakably themselves. You see the painted preview before any payment. Fable, made by the Surrealium atelier at Kastellet in the Stockholm archipelago, ships archival fine-art prints worldwide from the EU.
The Casati portrait is built for the room it will live in. A dim hallway, the dining room above the sideboard, the wall behind the reading chair. It rewards a second look. Once for the regalia, once for the faces underneath.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Casati portrait style based on?
Casati draws on the baroque court-portrait tradition, with the theatrical extravagance of a sitter who treated daily life as a stage. Think heavy drapery, ermine, gold-thread brocade, and one warm light source pulling figures out of deep shadow. The faces stay yours; the regalia and staging do the rest.
Can two people be painted together on one Casati canvas?
Yes. Couples and pairs are the natural fit for Casati. Send one clear reference photo of each subject and Fable composes both figures into a single painted tableau, shared candlelight on both faces, matched costuming on the same canvas. You see the painted preview of the pair before paying.
What costumes appear in a Casati oil portrait?
The Casati wardrobe is drawn straight from the reference: an ermine-trimmed velvet mantle, a brocade robe stitched with gold thread, a lace jabot at the throat, a strand of pearls, and a rose silk gown. A folded fan and heavy curtain backdrop finish the staging.
Is a Casati portrait a good anniversary or engagement gift?
Yes. The theatrical two-figure composition reads as a milestone painting, the kind framed for an anniversary, an engagement, or the wall above the fireplace. Archival fine-art prints run $89 to $299; gallery canvas $299 to $899. Free worldwide shipping, printed in the EU.
How do I send photos for a Casati couple portrait?
Upload a clear face reference for each subject, decent light, eyes toward the camera, no heavy sunglasses. Fable does the costuming and staging. You see the painted preview of both figures on one Casati canvas before any payment, so the likeness can be checked before checkout.