Portrait of Amalia van Solms (1602-75)

Technical notes

The oak support consists of three planks with a vertical grain and is bevelled at the top, bottom and right. The left side, seen from the back, is cut. The ground layer is probably thin and whitish. The paint layers were smoothly applied.

Scientific examination and reports

technical report: L. Sozzani, RMA, 24 augustus 2004

Condition

Fair. The painting is slightly abraded, particularly in the background, clothing and hair. The varnish is matte in the retouched areas.

Conservation

W. Hesterman, 1990: complete restoration

Provenance

...; first recorded in the museum in 1808;¹Moes/Van Biema 1909, p. 104. on loan to the Oranje-Nassau Museum, The Hague, 1926-32; on loan to the Rijksmuseum Muiderslot, Muiden, since 1971

ObjectNumber: SK-A-572

The artist

Biography

Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt (Delft 1567 - Delft 1641)

According to Van Mander, Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt or Miereveld (he used both forms) was born in Delft on 1 May 1567. He was the son of the successful goldsmith Jan Michielsz van Mierevelt, and received his early training in Delft from two otherwise unknown artists, Willem Willemsz and a pupil of Antonie Blocklandt whom Van Mander simply calls Augustijn. Van Mierevelt became a pupil of Blocklandt’s in Utrecht, presumably in 1581 at the age of 14, for a period of two years and three months. From Blocklandt he learned to handle paint and became accomplished in the art of history painting. After his master’s death, Van Mierevelt returned to his native town, where he joined the painters’ guild in 1587 and served as warden in 1589-90 and 1611-12. He married twice, in 1589 and 1633.

Much to the regret of his father, Van Mierevelt abandoned history painting in favour of the more lucrative genre of portraiture, first adhering to the style of his fellow townsman Jacob Willemsz Delff. However, few of his early portraits have survived, even fewer of his history paintings, and none at all of the kitchen pieces reported by Van Mander. In general, Van Mierevelt’s portraits show great attention to detail and little compositional adventure. His later paintings, however, are more animated, loosely painted productions.

Van Mierevelt’s enormous output (Houbraken says 5,000 portraits, Von Sandrart 10,000) began in earnest with the 1607 commission from the Delft authorities to portray the stadholder, Prince Maurits.²Panel, 110 x 98 cm; Delft, Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof; illustrated in New York-London 2001, p. 312. In the same year, he became the official painter to the Stadholder’s Court in The Hague, a position he enjoyed for about a quarter of a century until Honthorst usurped it. In addition to his base clientele in The Hague and Delft, his workshop was regularly frequented by aristocrats and patricians from other Dutch and foreign cities. The large demand was met in part by Van Mierevelt’s assistants, who included his sons Pieter (1596-1623) and Jan (1604-33). The inventory of his shop reveals that he kept a supply of replicas of his most famous sitters on hand. His inventions were also disseminated through the reproductive engravings made by his son-in-law, Willem Jacobsz Delff (1580-1638). Van Mierevelt’s most important pupils were Paulus Moreelse (c. 1571-1638), Willem van der Vliet (c. 1584-1642), Daniel Mijtens (c. 1590-1647) and Anthonie Palamedesz (1601-73). Van Mierevelt died a wealthy man in 1641. His lucrative workshop was taken over by his grandson, Jacob Willemsz Delff (1619-61).

Jonathan Bikker, 2007

References
Van Mander 1604, fols. 281-82; Von Sandrart 1675 (1925), pp. 124, 171-72; Houbraken I, 1718, pp. 46-49; Obreen I, 1877-78, p. 4; Havard I, 1879, pp. 11-82; Obreen III, 1880-81, p. 263; Havard 1894; Bredius 1908 (documents); Gerson in Thieme/Becker XXIV, 1930, p. 539; Montias 1982, pp. 38, 370; Ekkart in Amsterdam 1993, pp. 310-11; Ekkart in Turner 1996, pp. 485-86

Entry

Until now this painting has wrongly been regarded as a portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, and thus as the pendant of Wybrand de Geest’s Portrait of Ernst Casimir I of 1633 (SK-A-571).

That the two paintings were not originally companion pieces is clear, among other things, from the fact that the portrait of Ernst Casimir is a bust while that of the woman is a half-length. In addition, the styles of the two portraits are different. De Geest’s is characterized by the powerful modelling of the face, which was built up with visible brushstrokes, and by the transparent paint in the clothing. Such virtuosity is totally lacking in the present work, which is slick, precise and rather harsh. Finally, the woman bears no resemblance to likenesses of Sophia Hedwig, but is derived directly from a portrait of Amalia van Solms painted by Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt around 1632. It is known in a three-quarter length version (fig. a),³Coll. cat. The Hague 1935, I, p. 175, no. 354. but there are others that are half-lengths.⁴See, for example, sale, T. Stuart collection, Amsterdam (A.G.C. de Vries), 16 December 1930, no. 31; sale, Brussels (Fievez), 6 December 1935, no. 125; sale, Amsterdam (Christie’s), 7 November 2001, no. 18. The harsh execution of the Rijksmuseum portrait is far removed from the Van Mierevelt versions.

Yvette Bruinen, 2007

See Bibliography and Rijksmuseum painting catalogues
See Key to abbreviations and Acknowledgements

This entry was published in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, I: Artists Born between 1570 and 1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam 2007, no. 205.

Literature

Wassenbergh 1967, p. 35, no. 42 (as Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel); coll. cat. Muiden 1989, no. 19 (as Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel)

Collection catalogues

1809, p. 94, no. 450 (as Anonymous, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel); 1843, p. 77, no. 404 (as Anonymous, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig- Wolfenbüttel; ‘a filled tear in the flesh’); 1853, p. 36, no. 389 (as Anonymous, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel; fl. 100); 1858, p. 185, no. 409 (as Anonymous, 16th/17th century, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel); 1880, p. 103, no. 95 (as Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig- Wolfenbüttel); 1887, p. 49, no. 386 (as Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel); 1903, p. 103, no. 960 (as Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig- Wolfenbüttel, pendant of SK-A-571/no. 82); 1934, p. 105, no. 960 (as Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, pendant of SK-A-571/no. 82); 1976, p. 237, no. A 572 (as Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, pendant of SK-A-571/no. 82); 2007, no. 205

Citation

Y. Bruijnen, 2007, 'copy after Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, Portrait of Amalia van Solms (1602-75), in or after c. 1632', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.6938

(accessed 5 May 2025 08:58:11).

Figures

fig. a Workshop of Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt, Portrait of Amalia van Solms (1602-75), c. 1640. Oil on panel, 89 x 114.5 cm. The Hague, Historisch Museum, inv. no. 0000-0063-SCH. Photo: Collectie Haags Historisch Museum

Footnotes

¹Moes/Van Biema 1909, p. 104.
²Panel, 110 x 98 cm; Delft, Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof; illustrated in New York-London 2001, p. 312.
³Coll. cat. The Hague 1935, I, p. 175, no. 354.
⁴See, for example, sale, T. Stuart collection, Amsterdam (A.G.C. de Vries), 16 December 1930, no. 31; sale, Brussels (Fievez), 6 December 1935, no. 125; sale, Amsterdam (Christie’s), 7 November 2001, no. 18.