Oldendorpius, aged 51 in 1624
Franz Kessler (Wetzlar c.1580 - Gdańsk c.1650)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1624
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
1016 x 787 mm (40 x 31 in)
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486133
Caption
This portrait is inscribed with the age of the sitter (51) and date of the painting (1624). It was also inscribed at a later date with his name, ‘Oldendorpius.’ He was – apparently - a Protestant clergyman from Hamburg, but taught Law at Cologne and Marburg. He was also the nephew of the celebrated historian, Albert Krantz. The objects on the table beside the book - a crucifix, half a lemon placed on a lens and an uncut lemon - must have had some symbolic significance. The crucifix but not the dress suggests his ecclesiastical leanings; and the medallion indicates that he may also have been in imperial service.
Summary
Oil painting on panel, Oldendorpius, aged 51 in 1624 by Franz Kessler (Wetzlar c.1580 – Gdańsk c.1650). 1624. Three-quarter length portrait of a mature man, standing man, turned three-quarters to the right, dressed in black with a gold filigree belt, a glove in his left hand and his right hand on a closed book on a table, on which stands a tall crucifix, a bell-shaped hat, half a lemon on a large lens and an uncut lemon. At his waist is a gold medal with a crowned figure, holding a globe.
Provenance
Presented by Sir Charles Merrick Burrell 3rd Bt (1774 - 1862) to the 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837); thence by descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72) arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by H.M.Treasury.
Credit line
Petworth House, The Egremont Collection (acquired in lieu of tax by HM Treasury in 1956 and subsequently transferred to the National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
(His hand is resting on a volume inscribed 'Oldendorp' but according to C.H. Collins Baker, 'Catalogue of the Petworth Collection of Pictures', privately printed by the Medici Society, 1920, his hand is resting on a volume inscribed 'Vignal'.)
Makers and roles
Franz Kessler (Wetzlar c.1580 - Gdańsk c.1650), artist