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Wilhem van Ruytenburch article
Wilhem van Ruytenburch article
10 min. readig time - Right in the spotlight
12-05-2022 - Rijksmuseum
ATTENTION-GRABBER
Clearly, this is a man who enjoyed the limelight. And Lieutenant Wilhem van Ruytenburch certainly got what he wanted here, standing in his light-coloured outfit at the prominent position allotted to him by Rembrandt. As second-in-command, Van Ruytenburch was the shining example for the District II militia company. He may seem small in stature next to Captain Banning Cocq, but he radiates confidence – he knows exactly what he’s doing in this painting.
EYE-CATCHING OUTFIT
The lieutenant’s eye-catching, fashionable outfit means he will shine forevermore in this painting. Probably made of buffalo leather, the sleeveless doublet is superbly trimmed with dense embroidery in gold thread. Notice also how Cocq’s hand casts a shadow over the design of the coat of arms of Amsterdam – a subtle reminder of what this painting is all about: the protection of the city.
CARVED IN STONE
The militiamen paid 100 guilders each to be included in the painting, according to one of those involved, with the two officers paying a little more. As well as being immortalised in action, all their names are inscribed in quasi-authentic style on the shield cartouche at the centre of the rear wall. The name of our chief protagonist here ostentatiously heads the list: ‘Willem van Ruijtenburch van Vlaerding heer van Vlaerdingen lu[ij]tenant’.
WEALTH AND POWER
The Van Ruytenburchs had belonged to the urban elite for generations, and Wilhem’s mother Aeltge Pietersdr was the scion of another distinguished family, the Bickers. His father Pieter Gerritszn Ruytenburch expanded the family fortune through the spice trade, and Wilhem himself actively invested in shares in the VOC and the WIC, the two Dutch colonial trading companies. He also made money through investments in land and other real estate.
ARISTOCRATIC ASPIRATIONS
The Ruytenburchs took their name from ‘In Ruytenburgh’, the family’s residence on Amsterdam’s Oudezijds Achterburgwal. In 1632, Wilhem had Heijltgen Joosten, an elderly widow from the southern Dutch province of Brabant, attest that he was descended from an old family from the village of Budel – one that had a long-standing coat of arms with real stature. He moved to a double property on Herengracht, the place to be in those times if you truly counted in society. The building’s bluestone facade was a striking as the outfit he is wearing here.
LORD OF VLAARDINGEN
In 1628, Wilhem inherited the prestigious estates of Vlaardingen and Vlaardinger-Ambacht, which his father had purchased in 1610 from the Prince of Arenberg during the Twelve Years' Truce, a break in hostilities in the Eighty Years’ War. Here, at a superb waterside location, Wilhem built the country residence where he spent much of his summers. It also established him as a match in status to his brother-in-law Adriaan Pauw, for example, a powerful player in national politics and Lord of Heemstede.