Equestrian Portrait of Frederick Henry

anonymous, in or after 1631

The capture of Den Bosch is chiefly due to the strategic brilliance and perseverance of the army’s commander, Frederick Henry. As a result, the war takes a new turn. Several years later the prince also seizes Venlo, Roermond, and Maastricht. Frederick Henry is often triumphantly depicted on horseback. But quite uniquely he is here portrayed as such on the shell of a South American giant tortoise: an indirect expression of the Netherlands as a world power.

  • Artwork typeshield, schildpadschild
  • Object numberNG-NM-2970
  • Dimensionssupport: height 117 cm x width 68 cm x depth 30 cm (shell), outer size: height 125 cm x width 111 cm x depth 34 cm (support incl. backboard)
  • Physical characteristicsoil on turtle-shell

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Turtle-shell Painted with a Portrait of Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647), Prince of Orange, on Horseback
    • Equestrian Portrait of Frederick Henry
  • Object type

  • Object number

    NG-NM-2970

  • Description

    Schild van een schildpad beschilderd met een portret van Frederik Hendrik, prins van Oranje, te paard. Op de achtergrond (lage horizon) is de stad Den Bosch weergegeven.

  • Part of catalogue


Creation

  • Creation

    • painter: anonymous
    • painter: Pauwels van Hillegaert [rejected attribution]
  • Dating

    in or after 1631

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on turtle-shell

  • Dimensions

    • support: height 117 cm x width 68 cm x depth 30 cm (shell)
    • outer size: height 125 cm x width 111 cm x depth 34 cm (support incl. backboard)

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

  • Place

  • Period

    1629 - 1647


Acquisition and rights

  • Acquisition

    • purchase 1876
    • purchase 2018-05-12
    • interne vervaardiging 1876
    • interne vervaardiging 2018-05-12
  • Copyright

  • Provenance

    ...; sale, L.J.A. Scheltens van Kampferbeke (†), Rotterdam (Van Hengel et al.), 24 (25) July 1876 _sqq._, no. 144, to the museum


Documentation

    • Documentatiemap.
    • D. van der Kellen Jr., 'Het Nederlandsch Museum voor geschiedenis en kunst te 's-Gravenhage', Eigen Haard (1879), p. 12.

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