Portrait of Hendrik Casimir I (1612-40), Count of Nassau-Dietz

Portrait of Hendrik Casimir I (1612-40), Count of Nassau-Dietz

SK-A-533

• inscription, top left and right: ‘GraeF Hindrick van Nassau’
• signature, top left, beneath inscription: ‘V. de Geest ƒ’

These portraits were originally displayed at Honselaarsdijk, the palace built by Stadholder Frederick Henry and his wife Amalia in the 1620s near The Hague. In the style of European courts of the day, one of the palace rooms was lined with portraits of ancestors, relatives and celebrities past and present. Many of these personalities played a role in the Eighty Years War: members of the Nassau family and other commanders of the Dutch Republic's army, officers of the French and English allies and leading Spanish generals. A remarkable aspect is the number of foreigners who fought for the Dutch. The Republic's army enjoyed an international reputation and attracted young noblemen from abroad. For them, the war was a career opportunity.

painter: Wybrand de Geest (I)

c. 1632

olieverf op paneel

• depth 5.4 cm
• height 29.9 cm x width 23.9 cm x thickness 1.1 cm

nationalization 1795 1798-09

Public domain

? Commissioned by or for Ernst Casimir I (1573-1632) or Hendrik Casimir I (1612-40), Stadholders of Friesland; ? inventory, Frisian Stadholder´s Court, Leeuwarden, 12-14 and 27 September 1731, furniture attic (`Veertig kleine portraitjes gekomen uit een schoorsteen.´);{Drossaers/Lunsingh Scheurleer II, 1974, p. 40, no. 194.} ? inventory, Frisian Stadholder´s Court, Leeuwarden, 1764, furniture attic (`Tweeënveertig kleine portraitjes, gekomen uit een schoorsteen.´);{Drossaers/Lunsingh Scheurleer III, 1976, p. 74, no. 1157}...; first recorded in the museum in 1800/01{Van Thiel 1981a, p. 191, nos. 50-63, p. 192, nos. 65-78, 79-92.}

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20027116