Portrait of Constantijn Huygens

Jan Lievens, c. 1628 - c. 1629

Constantijn Huygens was secretary to Stadtholder Frederick Henry and a notable connoisseur. In his autobiography, he described how this painting was executed. Lievens painted the portrait in two stages, first the clothing and the hands, and then the face. This explains why the scale is a bit off: the head is too small in relation to the body.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-C-1467
  • Dimensionssupport: height 100.2 cm x width 84.5 cm
  • Physical characteristicsoil on panel

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687), Lord of Zuylichem. Secretary of the Stadtholder, Prince Frederik Hendrik, and Poet
    • Portrait of Constantijn Huygens

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-C-1467

  • Description

    Portret van Constantijn Huygens, heer van Zuylichem. Secretaris van stadhouder prins Frederik Hendrik en dichter. Ten halven lijve, zittend in een stoel naar links, de handen gevouwen in de schoot.

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    painter: Jan Lievens

  • Dating

    c. 1628 - c. 1629

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on panel

  • Dimensions

    support: height 100.2 cm x width 84.5 cm

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    On loan from the Musée de la Chartreuse

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    ...; purchased from Galerie Favart, Paris, by Dr Enée Aimé Escallier (1794-1857), Douai, c. 1836;{Foucart in A. Cacan de Bissy (ed.), _Le siècle de Rembrandt: Tableaux hollandais des collections publiques françaises_, exh. cat. Paris (Musée du Petit Palais) 1970-71, p. 130.} by whom bequeathed to the Musée de la Chartreuse, Douai, as Bartholomeus van der Helst, 1857;{A. Cahier (foreword), _Catalogue des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin, gravure et lithographie exposés dans les galeries du Musée de Douai_, coll. cat. Douai 1869, pp. 83-84, no. 182.} on loan from the Musée de la Chartreuse to the museum since 1962

  • Remarks

    Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

Documentation

    • E. de Jongh, Constantijn Huygens met bezorgd gelaat, in: Kunstschrift 3 (2009), p. 7, afb. 7
    • A. Jensen Adams, Public Faces and Private Identities in Seventeenth-Century Holland, Portraiture and the Production of Community, New York 2009, p. 64, afb. 12

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