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Portrait of a finely dressed man holding a richly adorned sword with a forested, hilly landscape in the background.

Portrait of a man leaning against a matte, grey wall. Dressed in a long, brown, buttoned coat with lace, puffed sleeves, and a lace ascot, the man exudes finery. The man’s right hand is gloved in brown leather, holding a highly decorated sword in a black scabbard. Braided ropes of silver extend up the hilt of the sword, ending in a spherical bulb at the top of the handle. A colorful, highly decorated carpet drapes over a column directly in front of the man. A forested, hilly landscape is seen throughout a gap in the wall behind the man.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2016.245
People
Willem van Mieris, Dutch (Leiden, Nethelands 1662 - 1747 Leiden, Netherlands)
Title
Portrait of a Man Holding a Sword
Other Titles
Former Title: Ein Herr mit einem Degen
Former Title: Portrait of a Gentleman
Former Title: Portrait of Admiral Tromp
Former Title: Portrait présumé de l'Amiral Corenlie-Martin Tromp
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1686
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/354251

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
22.6 × 17.5 cm (8 7/8 × 6 7/8 in.)
frame: 38.3 × 33 cm (15 1/16 × 13 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lower left: W. van / Mieris. / Fet Ano 1686
  • inscription: verso, on frame, incised: 7217
  • label: verso, center of panel, blue border, handwritten text: 45
  • inscription: verso, on panel, printed text: [auction catalogue clipping]
  • label: verso, upper left, on panel, blue bordered label with handwritten text: 62

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[J. Caudri, Amsterdam, September 6, 1809, lot 50]; to Thomassen. Possibly sold by Ralph Thomassen [through his sale, London, February 25, 1822, lot 22, as “Portrait of himself, elaborately finished"]. Jan Kleinenbergh, sold [through his sale, Leiden, July 19, 1841, lot 125] to L’Andry for Nieuwenhuys. Baron van Varange, sold [through his sale, Paris, May 26, 1852, lot 27, as “Portrait of Admiral Tromp"]. Isaac Pereire, Paris, sold [through his sale, March 6, 1872, lot 134 as “Portrait of Admiral Tromp”]. Carlos González. de Candamo y Rivero (1871-1946), London and Paris, sold [through his sale, Galerie Charpentier, December 14, 1933, lot 37, as “presumable Admiral Tromp”]; to Léon and Yvonne Cotnareanu. Art Market, 1986. [Unknown Dealer, London], sold; to [Johnny Van Haeften, London, July 1987], sold; to Peter and Anne Brooke, Boston, MA, September 1987, gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2016

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Peter and Anne Brooke
Accession Year
2016
Object Number
2016.245
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • John Smith, Supplement to the Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, brochure, Messrs. Smith (London, 1842), p. 55, no. 8
  • E. W. Moes, Iconographia Batava: Beredeneerde Lijst van Geschilderde en Gebeeldhouwde Portretten van Noord-Nederlanders in Vorige Eeuwen, Frederik Muller & Cie. (Amsterdam, 1905), p. 480
  • Beschreibendes und Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der Hervorragendsten Holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, checklist, Paul Neff Verlag (Stuttgart, 1907-1928), p. 208, no. 396
  • Catalogue des Tableaux Anciens par F. Guardi, van Miéres, A. Mignon, E. Murillo, C. Poelenburgh..., auct. cat., Galerie Jean Charpentier (Paris, December 15, 1933), p. 25, lot 37, repr. as pl. X
  • Peter C. Sutton, Prized Possessions: European Paintings from Private Collections of Friends of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, exh. cat., MFA Publications (Boston, 1992), pp. 61, 177-178, repr. p. 61, cat. no. 88
  • Ronni Baer, The Poetry of Everyday Life: Dutch Painting in Boston, MFA Publications (Boston, 2002), p. 79, repr.
  • Amy Golahny, "Exhibition Review: Imagine Me and You: Dutch and Flemish Encounters with the Islamic World, 1450-1750", Historians of Netherlandish Art Reviews, Historians of Netherlandish Art ([online], July 2024), https://hnanews.org/hnar/reviews/exhibition-review-imagine-me-and-you-dutch-and-flemish-encounters-with-the-islamic-world-1450-1750/, accessed July 17, 2024

Exhibition History

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu