Rijksmuseum

Object data

oil on panel

support: height 111.8 cm × width 84.4 cm × thickness 1.8 cm
outer size: depth 4 cm (support incl. frame)

Technical notes

The support consists of three vertically grained oak planks and a strip of wood 2.4 cm wide on the left side. The support is bevelled on all sides. Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring was formed in 1589. The panel could have been ready for use by 1600, but a date in or after 1606 is more likely. The panel was prepared with a white ground layer. An underdrawing, based on a pounced transfer, is clearly visible in the face. The paint layers were smoothly applied with impasto highlights.

Scientific examination and reports

technical report: G. Tauber, RMA, 28 September 2004
dendrochronology: P. Klein, RMA, 29 April 2005
technical report: A. Jansen / J. Verhave, SRAL, 23 November 2005

Condition

Fair. The join between the original support and the strip of wood added on the left has separated. There are five cracks along the right-hand join and two cracks at top left. The paint layers have become transparent. A coloured varnish applied to the background obscures the red curtain at upper left. The head and hand have been cleaned.

Provenance

...; transferred to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague (inv. no. 1320), from the Ministry of Justice, 1875; transferred to the museum, 1885; on loan to the Ministry of the Interior, 1915-45; on loan through the DRVK, 1952-93

Object number: SK-A-2731

The artist

Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt (Delft 1567 - Delft 1641)

According to Van Mander, Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt or Miereveld (he used both forms) was born in Delft on 1 May 1567. He was the son of the successful goldsmith Jan Michielsz van Mierevelt, and received his early training in Delft from two otherwise unknown artists, Willem Willemsz and a pupil of Antonie Blocklandt whom Van Mander simply calls Augustijn. Van Mierevelt became a pupil of Blocklandt’s in Utrecht, presumably in 1581 at the age of 14, for a period of two years and three months. From Blocklandt he learned to handle paint and became accomplished in the art of history painting. After his master’s death, Van Mierevelt returned to his native town, where he joined the painters’ guild in 1587 and served as warden in 1589-90 and 1611-12. He married twice, in 1589 and 1633.

Much to the regret of his father, Van Mierevelt abandoned history painting in favour of the more lucrative genre of portraiture, first adhering to the style of his fellow townsman Jacob Willemsz Delff. However, few of his early portraits have survived, even fewer of his history paintings, and none at all of the kitchen pieces reported by Van Mander. In general, Van Mierevelt’s portraits show great attention to detail and little compositional adventure. His later paintings, however, are more animated, loosely painted productions.

Van Mierevelt’s enormous output (Houbraken says 5,000 portraits, Von Sandrart 10,000) began in earnest with the 1607 commission from the Delft authorities to portray the stadholder, Prince Maurits.¹ In the same year, he became the official painter to the Stadholder’s Court in The Hague, a position he enjoyed for about a quarter of a century until Honthorst usurped it. In addition to his base clientele in The Hague and Delft, his workshop was regularly frequented by aristocrats and patricians from other Dutch and foreign cities. The large demand was met in part by Van Mierevelt’s assistants, who included his sons Pieter (1596-1623) and Jan (1604-33). The inventory of his shop reveals that he kept a supply of replicas of his most famous sitters on hand. His inventions were also disseminated through the reproductive engravings made by his son-in-law, Willem Jacobsz Delff (1580-1638). Van Mierevelt’s most important pupils were Paulus Moreelse (c. 1571-1638), Willem van der Vliet (c. 1584-1642), Daniel Mijtens (c. 1590-1647) and Anthonie Palamedesz (1601-73). Van Mierevelt died a wealthy man in 1641. His lucrative workshop was taken over by his grandson, Jacob Willemsz Delff (1619-61).

Jonathan Bikker, 2007

References
Van Mander 1604, fols. 281-82; Von Sandrart 1675 (1925), pp. 124, 171-72; Houbraken I, 1718, pp. 46-49; Obreen I, 1877-78, p. 4; Havard I, 1879, pp. 11-82; Obreen III, 1880-81, p. 263; Havard 1894; Bredius 1908 (documents); Gerson in Thieme/Becker XXIV, 1930, p. 539; Montias 1982, pp. 38, 370; Ekkart in Amsterdam 1993, pp. 310-11; Ekkart in Turner 1996, pp. 485-86

Entry

A studio replica of Van Mierevelt’s 1607 Portrait of Prince Maurits in Delft,² this painting may date from before 1613, as Maurits is not shown wearing the Order of the Garter he received in that year. The medal was later added to the prototype and is shown on replicas dating from after that year, such as the full-length one also in the Rijksmuseum (SK-A-255). A terminus post quem of 1606 is suggested by the dendrochronology.³ The coloured varnish added at some point by a restorer distorts the appearance of the painting, giving it a chiaroscuro effect that makes it look as if it is from later in the 17th century. The quality of this work is considerably less than that of the full-length Portrait of Maurits in the Rijksmuseum, which suggests that it was produced by studio assistants. The underdrawing gives a good insight into how this replica, and perhaps others, were produced.

Jonathan Bikker, 2007

See Bibliography and Rijksmuseum painting catalogues
See Key to abbreviations and Acknowledgements

This entry was published in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, I: Artists Born between 1570 and 1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam 2007, no. 192.

Collection catalogues

1976, p. 385, no. A 2731; 2007, no. 192

Citation

J. Bikker, 2007, 'workshop of Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, Portrait of Maurits (1567-1625), Prince of Orange, c. 1607 - c. 1613', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.7944

(accessed 15 November 2024 00:09:48).