Painted portrait in three-quarter view, head and shoulders of a young man who looks to the right.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The young man is fair skinned, brown eyes, with light brown hair, he wears a crown of fresh laurel leaves, reminiscent of antiquity. His head is turned slightly to the right, the face is placid. He wears a yellow robe with white flat collar, buttoned at the top. Soft light enters from the left, the background is a neutral color, non-described.

Gallery Text

Cornelis van Haarlem is primarily known today for his mythological and biblical scenes executed in the mannerist style, with elongated bodies, twisting poses, and exaggerated musculature. During his late career, Cornelisz. van Haarlem turned to simpler subjects, such as this image of a young man in a costume suggestive of armor from an earlier period in history. The artist depicted the laurel wreath, an ancient Greek symbol of glory, with great definition, applying minuscule dabs of pink on the leaves and stems. With so much focus on this element, the painting’s theme could be a generalized contemplation of the rewards and costs of glory and victory.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2017.169
People
Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, Dutch (Haarlem 1562 - 1638 Haarlem)
Title
A Young Man with a Crown of Laurel Leaves
Other Titles
Former Title: Idealized Portrait of a Historical or Mythological Figure
Former Title: Portrait en buste d'un Romain la tête laurée
Former Title: Bust of a Man Wearing a Laurel Crown
Former Title: Buste d'empereur romain
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1632
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/356436

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
14.5 × 12 cm (5 11/16 × 4 3/4 in.)
frame: 21.6 × 18.5 cm (8 1/2 × 7 5/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: middle right: CvH 1632
  • inscription: verso, red chalk: [illeg. text]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Sold [through Galerie Fernand Fiévez, Brussels, December 6, 1937, lot 18]. Henricus Nijgh (1873-1948), Rotterdam, sold [through Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, June 8, 1948, lot 14]. [Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1948]. Private collection, France. Sold [through Phillips, London, December 6, 1988, lot 70]; to [Johnny Van Haeften, Ltd., London], sold; to Anne and Peter Brooke, Boston, 1990, gift; to Harvard Art Museums

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Peter and Anne Brooke
Accession Year
2017
Object Number
2017.169
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Tableaux, miniatures du XVI e au XXe siècle, vues de bateaux (aquarelles et dessins), auct. cat., Galerie Fiévez (Brussels, December 6, 1937), p. 10, lot 18
  • Catalogue des tableaux, antiquités, objets d'Art...provenant de diverses collections et successions, E.A., La très importante succession de M. H. Nijgh, de Rotterdam, auct. cat., Frederik Muller & Cie. (Amsterdam, June 8, 1948), p. 2, lot 14
  • Fine Old Master Paintings, auct. cat., Phillips, London (London, December 6, 1988), p. 130, lot 70, repr.
  • 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. 32, 165-166, repr. p. 32, cat. no. 70
  • Pieter J. J. van Thiel, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, 1526-1638: A Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné, Davaco Publishers (Doornspijk, The Netherlands, 1999), p. 399, no. 257, repr. as plate 336
  • Ronni Baer, The Poetry of Everyday Life: Dutch Painting in Boston, MFA Publications (Boston, 2002), p. 68, repr.

Exhibition History

  • Prized Posessions: European Paintings from Private Collections of Friends of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 06/17/1992 - 08/16/1992
  • The Poetry of Everyday Life: Dutch Painting in Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 06/12/2002 - 09/15/2002
  • 32Q: 2300 Dutch & Flemish, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/10/2019 - 09/15/2021

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