David de Ruyter (c.1580-1663)
Jan Anthonisz. van Ravesteyn (The Hague c.1570 – The Hague 1669)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1639 (inscribed)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1020 x 740 mm
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486180
Caption
David de Ruyter was born in Cologne, to a father who had left his native Antwerp as a result of the uprising against Spain. His mother was Elizabeth Montens, of an ancient family from Breda. The sitter made his career as a lawyer, first as a barrister at the Court of Holland in The Hague, then later in the important office of the President of the Sovereign Council and Court of Fiefs of Brabant. The appointment was probably the result of political favour, the de Ruyters being supporters of the cause of the Netherlands Republic. He was related to Herman de Ruyter of Bois le Duc, who became a legendary hero in the story of the early years of the war against Spain. His wife was Lucretia van der Meulen, whose family played a great part in the expanding trade and in the local government in the cities in the North where they settled after the fall of Antwerp.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, David de Ruyter (c.1580-1663) by Jan van Ravesteyn (The Hague c.1570 – The Hague 1669), inscribed as carved centre left on plinth: DAVID DE RUYTER / ANNO M.D.CXXXIX [1639]. A half-length portrait of a man wearing black and standing by a table on which he holds his hat and gloves against a grey architectural background. There is a coat of arms in the left hand corner.
Provenance
In the collection of the 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) by 1798 and 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
DAVID DE RUYTER/ANNO M.D.CXXXIX (centre left on plinth)
Makers and roles
Jan Anthonisz. van Ravesteyn (The Hague c.1570 – The Hague 1669), artist