Portrait Medallion of Catherine Hooft

Artus Quellinus (I), 1660

Catharina Hooft came from a wealthy Amsterdam patrician family. This medallion depicts her in profile, just like her husband Cornelis de Graeff. After his death in 1664, she became the head of the family. She knew many important and powerful people, including Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt. Here she displays her wealth, notably the hair ornament – one of her most precious possessions.

  • Artwork typesculpture
  • Object numberBK-KOG-1458-B
  • Dimensionsheight 58 cm x width 55 cm
  • Physical characteristicswhite Carrara marble

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Artus Quellinus (I)

Portrait Medallion of Catharina Hooft (1618-1691)

Amsterdam, 1660

Inscriptions

  • Inscription, below the bust, incised: CATHARINA HOOFT.VXOR.CORNELII DE GRAEF.CIC.IC.CLX. AD VIVUM SCUL[p].SIT. A.QUELLIEN

Technical notes

Sculpted in high relief.

Scientific examination and reports

  • condition report: I. Garachon, RMA, 18 maart 2013

Condition

Undamaged.

Conservation

  • I. Garachon, RMA, 2013: I. Garachon, 2013: modern frame (BK-2012-3) removed; cleaned.

Provenance

Commissioned by the sitters, 216 Herengracht, Amsterdam, in or shortly before 1660;1F. Scholten, ‘Portrait Medallion of Catharina Hooft (1618-1691)’, in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam 2024. ? their son Pieter de Graeff (1691-1707), Amsterdam, 1691; …; collection Guillaume Louis Baud (1801-1891), former minister of Colonies, Lausanne, in or before 1881;2Note KOG. from whom, purchased by the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap, Amsterdam, 1881; on loan to the museum, since 1885

Object number: BK-KOG-1458-B

Credit line: On loan from the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap

Entry

See the entry on BK-KOG-1458-A.

Literature

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 300; F. Scholten, Gebeeldhouwde portretten/Portrait Sculptures, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. 17; J. Kiers et al., The Glory of the Golden Age: Dutch Art of the 17th Century: Painting, Sculpture and Decorative Art, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2000, p. 244 and no. 165); J.P. Filedt-Kok et al., Netherlandish Art in the Rijksmuseum 1600-1700, coll. cat Amsterdam 2001, no. 51; F. Scholten, ‘Quellinus’s Burgomasters: A Portrait Gallery of Amsterdam Republicanism’, Simiolus 32 (2006), pp. 87-125, esp. pp. 101-02 and nos. 12, 13; F. Scholten, Artus Quellinus: Sculptor of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 2010, pp. 51-52, fig. 58

Citation

F. Scholten, 2024, 'Artus (I) Quellinus, Portrait Medallion of Catharina Hooft (1618-1691), Amsterdam, 1660', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200116023

(accessed 6 December 2025 20:31:13).

Footnotes

  • 1F. Scholten, ‘Portrait Medallion of Catharina Hooft (1618-1691)’, in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam 2024.
  • 2Note KOG.