All works in Early Netherlandish Paintings

anonymous

Portrait of Frank van Borselen (c. 1390-1470), Lord of Sint Maartensdijk

Northern Netherlands, after c. 1480

Object data

oil on panel

support: height 64 cm × width 50 cm
depth 5 cm

Inscriptions

  • inscription, top centre: heer vra[n]ck va[n] borssel.
  • coat of arms, upper right: quartered, 1 and 4, a gold band on a black field; 2 and 3, three red pillars on a silver field. Crest: a devil’s head

Technical notes

The support consists of two vertically grained oak planks (approx. 27 and 23 cm), 0.6-1.4 cm thick. They are joined together with a lap joint, as are the planks of the pendant (SK-A-498). Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring was formed in 1447. The panel could have been ready for use by 1458, but a date in or after 1472 is more likely. The whitish ground was applied thinly. There is an unpainted edge approx. 0.4 cm wide on all sides, and remains of a barbe along the bottom edge. There is no underdrawing visible to the naked eye. The figure and coat of arms were reserved. Although the golden inscription is partly painted over the underlying green background, it seems that the text was also reserved.

Scientific examination and reports

  • condition report: I. Verslype, RMA, 22 March 2006
  • dendrochronology: P. Klein, RMA, 28 January 2009

Condition

Fair. Both planks of the support are cracked. The retouching along the join and the varnish are discoloured

Conservation

  • H.H. Mertens, 1966
  • H.H. Mertens, 1966

Provenance

...; recorded at Kasteel Teylingen, Voorhout, 1746 (‘men vindt hier ook nog haar Afbeeldsel en dat van haaren geliefden Frank van Borsselen, in twee Schilderyen’);1 recorded at Kasteel Teylingen, Voorhout, 1793 (‘Op ’t slot van Teilingen worden oude pourtraiten van Jacoba en Frank gevonden’);2 acquired from Kasteel Teylingen by the museum, in or before 1800;3 on loan to the Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg, since 2006

Object number: SK-A-499

Copyright: Public domain

The artist

Citation

M. Bass, 2010, 'anonymous, Portrait of Frank van Borselen (c. 1390-1470), Lord of Sint Maartensdijk, Northern Netherlands, after c. 1480', in J.P. Filedt Kok (ed.), Early Netherlandish Paintings, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.6830

(accessed 13 November 2024 06:59:35).

Footnotes