Johan de Witt (1625 - 1672) (after Jan de Baen)
Dutch School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1650 - 1699
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
770 x 630 mm
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 959529
Caption
The sitter was once believed to be the poet and politician Andrew Marvell. He was a friend of fellow poet, John Milton, whose portrait hangs alongside at Nostell Priory. It was acquired by Charles Winn in 1869, from the picture dealer, Mr Leng of Hull, as an historical or 'character' portrait, popular in the 19th century, assigned to G. Stone. However, it is actually a portrait of the Republican Dutch statesman, Johan de Witt, who along with his brother Cornelis de Witt, was murdered by Orangists and their bodies horrifically mutilated. Another version is in a private collection in Holland and a three-quarter-length by Jan de Baen is in the museum at Dordrecht, the sitter's home town.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Johan de Witt (1625 - 1672), Dutch School, after Jan de Baen (Haarlem 1633 – The Hague 1702), mid-late 17th century. A painted oval half-length portrait of a man in white collar and long wig, facing right.
Provenance
Acquired by Charles Winn (1795 - 1874) in 1869, from the picture dealer, Mr Leng of Hull, at a cost of £12; purchased by the National Trust by private treaty sale from Lord St Oswald in 2010
Credit line
Nostell Priory, The St Oswald Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
On the back of the painting, on a piece of canvas, attached to the stretcher bar: Andrew Marvell / Born at Hull 1620 / Died in London 1678. / and was Buried at St. / Giles’s in the Fields.
Makers and roles
Dutch School, artist after Jan de Baen (Haarlem 1633 – The Hague 1702), artist previously catalogued as attributed to British (English) School, artist French School, artist
References
Brockwell 1915 Maurice Walter Brockwell, Catalogue of the Pictures and Other Works of Art in the Collection of Lord St Oswald at Nostell Priory, London 1915, cat. no. 67 Hendrick S. Van Lennep, Naarden: Teding van Berkhout Stichting , 2014, p. 204, nr. 61