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Portrait of Pieter van Loon (1607-1679) - continued
Provenance: UK family since the 19th century (as Dutch School, Portrait of a cleric).
This 17th century portrait depicts a man in a black robe (an ‘overkleed’) with a white collar. The white and black coloured ‘akertjes’ under the collar are partly visible. This type of collar was fashionable in the late 1650s and the 1660s. The collar therefor corresponds relatively well with the dating on the painting, 1667. On his head the man wears a ‘kalotje’ , a typical Dutch 17th century head garment men were wearing in their homes (1 ). On his little finger he wears a wedding ring.
Between his thumb and index finger a juwel - hanging on a ribbon around his neck- is visible. The position of his two fingers is putting a strong emphasis on the medaillon. This piece of jewelry is a medaillon with star shaped, rose cut diamonds. In the 17th century such pieces were expensive, and here it stresses the wealthy status of the sitter The medaillon our man is wearing might also be a symbol that relates to his family or to a profession. The possibility that the focus on the jewel on the ribbon could be interpreted as a reference to the deceased wife of the sitter should be seriously considered (2).
Art historical research
Our research on the painter as well as on the sitter has yielded some appealing results. At the first glance of the painting we immediately placed in the vicinity of the Amsterdam based 17th century VOC merchant family Van Loon. To ascertain the resemblance of this portrait with a portrait in the family collection (www.museumvanloon.nl) was the first step in indentifying the sitter. The resembling portrait in the Van Loon Collection depicts Nicolaes van Loon and is painted by Wallerant Vaillant (Lille 1623 – 1677 Amsterdam) in 1667. (3)
Nicolaes and ‘our’ man show however too much difference when closely compared. Based on further careful studying of the facial characteristics of both the man in our portrait as well as in the portrait of Pieter van Loon (1679, painted by Michiel van Musscher) – Nicolaes’ younger brother - a next step in the identification process was made. (4)
Although comparing the physiognomy of portraits painted by different artists and at different ages of the sitter is not an easy task, we feel save to assume that our portrait depicts Pieter van Loon. The specific – round - shape of Pieter’s eyes, which is strengthened by the eye bags, provided strong arguments for identifying the man in our portrait as, indeed, Pieter van Loon and not as his familiar looking younger brother Nicolaes van Loon.
As implicated above the medallion might well be a reference to Pieter’s deceased wife; in this case, Anna van Foreest, who died in 1654. The wedding ring on Pieter’s little finger is another indication that the man depicted is a widow. As men in the 17th century hardly wore wedding rings, the ring in this portrait is likely to be another reference to his deceased wife, Anna.
The artist
The portrait has been painted by Bernard Vaillant (Lille 1632 – 1698 Leiden). Bernard was one of the younger brother of, the earlier mentioned, Wallerant Vaillant, the artist who painted the pendant portraits for his brother Nicolaes on the occasion of the latter’s 40th anniversary of his wedding day. Bernard and Wallerant most likely worked together in a family studio in Amsterdam between the early 1660s and the late 1670s. Besides the portrait of Pieter van Loon there are at present only five other portraits known that are painted by Bernard Vaillant, one in a private collection, one in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and three in the collection of the city of Nijmegen.
Technical research
Technical art historical research is always an integral part of Bazuin & de Blécourt ’s projects. Together with one of our preferred restorers the condition of the painting was analysed and a restoration approach was decided upon. Underneath the dirty varnish layers a nearly fully intact portrait was found. The removal of the varnish lead to the discovery of the almost completely legible signature: “B. Vaillant // 1667”. A few old retouchings were removed and small retouches added. Only the ribbon was completely restored and now shows its original (pigment analysis executed) blue-ish colour.
The portrait was restored to comply to contemporary standards and is once again in excellent condition.
For sale
Soon this appealing portrait will be offered for sale on the art market; providing an excellent opportunity to acquire a very well preserved, signed and dated, portrait painting of Pieter van Loon, director (‘Bewindvoerder’) of the Dutch Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie and member of a prestigious Amsterdam merchant’s and banker’s family.
The painting most probably will be offered for sale under the buyer’s obligation it will be available for an exhibition at Museum van Loon in the course of 2011.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any queries you might have.
Notes
(1) Jacoba de Jonge (costume specialist, Amersfoort, The Netherlands) provided her advise on the man’s garment and head wear. Written comment Oct 26th 2009. See also Der Kinderen-Besier 1950, p. 178.
(2) Mart van Drunen (jewelry specialist, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) advised us on the characteristics of the medallion. Written comment, Nov 17th 2009.
(3) Vaillant was a court painter for the Friesland stadholder Prince Willem Friso and resided in Amsterdam between 1664 and 1677.
(4) Pieter van Loon was Nicolaes’ business partner in their trading company Nicolaes ende Pieter van Loon. Pieter was also director (‘bewindvoerder’) of the Vereenigde Oostindische Companie (VOC).
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