Adolf and Catharina Croeser, Known as ‘The Burgomaster of Delft and his Daughter’

Jan Havicksz. Steen, 1655

Legs wide apart and his right arm akimbo, Croeser sits on the stoop of his house on the Oude Delft canal in Delft. His thirteen-year-old daughter Catharina looks straight out at us. Jan Steen included a narrative element in this portrait: a poor woman and child beg for alms from the wealthy grain merchant. In 1657, just two years after this portrait was made, Croeser stood surety for Steen, who was seriously in debt.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-A-4981
  • Dimensionsheight 82.5 cm x width 68.5 cm x depth cm
  • Physical characteristicsoil on canvas

Stories

Adolf and Catharina Croeser

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Adolf and Catharina Croeser, Known as ‘The Burgomaster of Delft and his Daughter’

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Interior of an inn with an old man amusing himself with the landlady and two men playing backgammon, known as 'Two kinds of games'

Jan Havicksz. Steen (mentioned on object), 1660 - 1679

Interior of an inn with an old man amusing himself with the landlady and two men playing backgammon, known as 'Two kinds of games'

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Adolf and Catharina Croeser, Known as ‘The Burgomaster of Delft and his Daughter’

  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-A-4981

  • Description

    Een in het zwart geklede man op de stoep van een huis aan de Oude Delft gezeten, een brief in zijn linkerhand. Een rijk gekleed meisje, mogelijk zijn dochter, treedt de stoep af. Een oude vrouw in verschoten kleding met een jongetje aan haar zij spreekt de man aan. Op de achtergrond de toren van de Oude Kerk.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    signature and date: ‘JSteen // 1655’

Creation

  • Creation

    painter: Jan Havicksz. Steen

  • Dating

    1655

  • Search further with

Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    height 82.5 cm x width 68.5 cm x depth cm

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

  • Place

Exhibitions

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Purchased with the support of the Mondriaan Fonds, the Nationaal Aankoopfonds of the Ministerie van OCenW, the BankGiro Lottery, the Stichting Nationaal Fonds Kunstbezit, the VSBfonds, the Vereniging Rembrandt, with additional funding from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and the Rijksmuseum Fonds

  • Acquisition

    purchase 2004-08-17

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    Christianus Johannes Nieuwenhuys, the dealer (son of Lambert Jan, see above), London by whom sold to Colonel the Hon. Edward Gordon Douglas (1800-86), later Douglas-Pennant (1841), and 1st Baron Penrhyn of Llandegai (1866), Penrhyn Castle, Caernavon (Wales); by decent to Hugh Napier Douglas-Pennant (1894-1949), 4th Baron Penrhyn of Llandygai, who left Penrhyn and its estates to his niece, Lady Janet Marcia Rose Harper (1923-97), née Pelham, who, with her husband John Charles Harper (?-1998), thereupon assumed the name of Douglas-Pennant;{Provenance reconstructed in Grijzenhout/Van Sas 2006, pp. 15-30} one of their heirs Richard Charles Harper Douglas-Pennant (1955-), € 11,900,000, to the museum, with support from the Nationaal Aankoopfonds from the Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen, sponsor Loterij, Stichting Nationaal Fonds Kunstbezit, Mondriaan Stichting, VSB Fonds, Vereniging Rembrandt, jointly facilitated by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Rijksmuseumfonds, 2004

  • 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

    • R. de Leeuw, Bulletin van de Vereniging Rembrandt 14 (2004) 3, p. 18-21.
    • 'Een raadsel ontsluierd : Jan Steens 'Een burgemeester van Delft en zijn dochter'', Kunstkrant 33 (2007) 1, p. 4-7 met afb.
    • Documentatiemap.
    • M. van Balen, Een burgemeester van Delft en zijn dochter, Kunstkrant Rijksmuseum Amsterdam 5 (2004), p. 14-15.
    • T. Dibbits, 'Het contrast tussen arm en rijk', Jaarverslag Rijksmuseum Amsterdam 2004, Amsterdam 2005, p. 46-49.

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