An Unknown Man holding a Drawing over a Plinth with the Relief of a River God
Wilhelm Sonmans (b. Dordrecht, fl.1670s – d. London 1708)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1670 - 1708
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1245 x 991 mm (49 x 39 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Treasurer's House, North Yorkshire
NT 593124
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, An Unknown Man holding a Drawing over a Plinth with the Relief of a River God, by Wilhelm Sonmans (b.Dordrecht, fl.1670s – d.London 1708), signed WS (in monogram). A three-quarter-length portrait of a man, seated, turned slightly to the right, gazing at the spectator, wearing a long wig and gold-coloured coat with blue facings and holding a scroll of paper [a blue-wash drawing of Mucius Scaevola; figures in martial dress] in his right hand which rests on a plinth, sculptured with a relief of a River God and nymph, wall and arch in the background left, and distant horizon of trees and cloudy sky on the right.
Provenance
Over the years the work has been regularly confused in various documents with NT593124 (a portrait of Dryden after Kneller, originally purchased as a portrait of Vanbrugh), and has been identifed as both Vanbrugh and Dryden at different times even by Frank Green. Given by Green to National Trust as part of the contents of Treasurer's House in 1930.
Credit line
Treasurer’s House, York, The Frank Green Gift (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
No 2 [..] (pencil mark and illegible monogram)
Makers and roles
Wilhelm Sonmans (b. Dordrecht, fl.1670s – d. London 1708), artist previously catalogued as attributed to Simon Pietersz Verelst (The Hague 1644 - London 1721), artist