Portrait of Reinoud III van Brederode (1493-1556), Lord of Vianen

The support consists of two vertically grained oak planks (31.8 and 35 cm), 0.5-1.5 cm thick. A strip approx. 1.4 cm wide was added at the top of the painting, making the original panel 77.2 x 67 cm. Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring was formed in 1510. The panel could have been ready for use by 1521, but a date in or after 1535 is more likely. The planks are butt joined, and a butterfly cleat (2 x 3 cm) can be seen on the image side in the middle of Reinoud’s hat, but it is quite heavily retouched. Since only one batten remains on the upper reverse, it is possible that a small strip is missing along the bottom of the composition. The white-coloured ground was applied up to the edges. A slightly textured priming was probably applied on top of the ground, since broad brushstrokes of this layer are visible through the paint layers. Infrared reflectography detects assuredly underdrawn contours throughout the costume and even in details such as the ribbons and jewellery, as well as in the hands, face and beard, although the cape and hat remain opaque (fig. a). Infrared reflectography also shows that Scorel made a slight adjustment in the position of Reinoud’s ear. Some of the underdrawing in the face and hands can also be seen by the unaided eye. The figure has been delimited by the background colour. Although paint strokes can be noticed in the background, the paint has generally been applied smoothly, and the face was done wet in wet. The artist emphasised some details in the final paint stage, especially the jewellery, with highlights in white and what is probably lead-tin yellow.

Good. The varnish is thick and discoloured, and there are discoloured retouchings in places, especially along the join between the two planks.

? Commissioned by Reinoud III van Brederode (1493-1556), Lord of Vianen; ? his estate inventory, Huis Batenstein, near Vianen, 1556 (‘Les poinctures’ [...] ‘Monsiegnuer de Brederode//Madamme de Brederode’);¹¹Inventory by Druet Warhel (Nationaal Archief, inv. no. 3.20.07); transcribed in Salverda de Grave 1918, p. 52. ; ? estate inventory, Hendrik van Brederode (1531-68), Huis Batenstein, near Vianen, 1567 (‘In myn vrouwens stoeve // Twee taeffereelen van den ouden heer ende vrouwe van Brederode’);²²Inventory made by the order of the Landvoogdes (Nationaal Archief, inv. no. 3.20.07); transcribed in Salverda de Grave 1918, p. 96. by descent to Johan Wolfert van Brederode-Cloetingen (1599-1655); ? his estate inventory, Huis Batenstein, near Vianen, 16 June 1646, the counts’ chamber (‘Een en twyntich schilderijs als: heer Reynouwt [...]’);³³Hofman 1887, p. 599. ? by descent to the Van Brederode van Bolswart family, Amsterdam, late 18th century;⁴⁴Note RMA. with ‘de Heer van Brederode, Amsterdam’, as H. Holbein, late 18th century;⁵⁵Engraving Reinier Vinkeles (1741-1816), RP-P-37:1308. …; ? collection Prof. J.A. Alberdingk Thijm (1820-89), 1883;⁶⁶Note RMA. ...; collection C.M.V. Roothaan, Nijmegen, 1889;⁷⁷Note RMA. from the dealer A. Croiset, The Hague, fl. 1,200, to the museum, October 1894; on loan to the Museum Beeckestijn, Velzen, 1992-2004

ObjectNumber: SK-A-1619

Standing before a neutral grey background and portrayed half-length, Reinoud III van Brederode assumes a commanding pose with his left arm akimbo. His proper right hand most likely holds the hilt of a dagger, since a sword hilt - slightly cut off by the panel’s lower edge - can be seen just below his left hand. Although the sitter seems to be portrayed past middle age, Reinoud’s beard has not yet turned completely white.¹⁴¹⁴A portrait attributed to Antonis Mor appears to show Reinoud around the same age, see RKD IB no. 107768, whereas an anonymous portrait seems to depict a more elderly Reinoud, see RKD IB no. 52563. He is depicted here as a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, having been inducted into the order at the 1531 chapter meeting in Tournai. Hoogewerff states that he is portrayed as dean of the order,¹⁵¹⁵Hoogewerff III, 1939, p. 493. but Reinoud held this office only for a few months at the very end of his life in 1556.¹⁶¹⁶For Reinoud see Kooperberg in Molhuysen/Blok X, 1937, cols. 132-36. He wears a double golden chain from which the insignia of the order are suspended: a fire-steel (the Burgundian briquet), a flint issuing flames, and the golden fleece pendant. Order paraphernalia belonging to Reinoud, the insignia and red, black and white robes, are listed in his 1556 estate inventory.¹⁷¹⁷See Provenance; Salverda de Grave 1918, pp. 2, 56-57. The chain was added in paint only and was painted in over the ribbons on Reinoud’s doublet. The doublet, although appearing to be black, must be a dark blue, since the colour could be penetrated by infrared reflectography. The doublet is ornamented with crossed white ribbons to which six pins with alternating floral motifs have been attached. Similar badge-like pins, with clusters of pearls and flame motifs, decorate Reinoud’s black baret, which is of a type that dates to the mid-1540s.¹⁸¹⁸E-mail regarding the baret from R.E.O. Ekkart, 20 May 2008. De Meyere notes that something of Reinoud’s taste can be sensed in this portrait, since the 1556 inventory of his estate listed expensive clothing along with many pearls and precious jewels.¹⁹¹⁹De Meyere 1981b, p. 14. Reinoud’s cape, draped elegantly over his shoulders, is pure black and has a slight nubby texture. As a Brederode, Reinoud III was a member of the leading family of Holland nobles, and he served in important advisory and military capacities for Charles V.²⁰²⁰Van Nierop 1993, pp. 39-40.

This portrait has been attributed more often to Cornelis Anthonisz, because this artist is known to have included a portrait of Reinoud III in a woodcut series of his own design, the Lords of Brederode, c. 1550-51, which he also dedicated to Reinoud III.²¹²¹Armstrong 1990, p. 13; illustrated in Dubiez 1969, fig. 16 (n.p.). Furthermore, there are two equestrian portraits of Reinoud attributed to Cornelis Anthonisz, one a woodcut (RP-P-BI-126).²²²²See Dubiez 1969, p. 113; Amsterdam 1972, pp. 61-62, no. 84. and the other a painting in the Vianen Town Hall.²³²³Schenk zu Schweinberg 1960, pp. 93-94; De Meyere 1981b, p. 14 (ill.). None of these portraits, however, have any direct similarities to the Rijksmuseum painting. Both Reinoud III and Jan van Scorel moved in the same court circles (see the biography), and there were any number of occasions when the two could have met. From 1535 to 1545 Scorel owned portions of a house along with Wolfert of Brederode, Lord of Cloetinge (d. 1548), who was Reinoud’s brother.²⁴²⁴Faries 1975, p. 202, note 6. During negotiations preceding the impoldering of the Zijpe by Scorel and his partners in 1552, the painter came to an agreement with Reinoud III about the position of one of the proposed dikes.²⁵²⁵Schoorl 1973, pp. 140-41. In 1546, Scorel is known to have hosted one of the guests at the meeting of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Utrecht,²⁶²⁶Faries 1972, pp. 192-93. an event that may have occasioned the Rijksmuseum portrait. Although the estimates are slightly earlier, dendrochronology does not contradict a date in the mid-1540s.

Ultimately, the question of attribution must be decided on the basis of style. The strong silhouette, together with the patterns established by the placement of the hands and decorative features of the costume, stress the two-dimensional aspects of the composition. The planar conception of Scorel’s works is a characteristic that has long been recognised, having been expounded for the first time by Wescher in 1938 when differentiating Scorel’s compositions from Heemskerck’s.²⁷²⁷Wescher 1938, pp. 218-30. In this work, Scorel’s presentation is highly schematic, and this tendency can be seen in other official portraits, such as those of the ecclesiastics Joris van Egmond (see SK-C-1618), and Jean II van Carondelet in Brussels.²⁸²⁸Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts; illustrated in ENP XII, 1975, no. 352, pl. 186. Scorel sets heads and shoulders off sharply against the background in another work that is close in date, Five Members of the Utrecht Brotherhood of Jerusalem Pilgrims of circa 1541.²⁹²⁹See Faries in coll. cat. Utrecht 2011, no. 29. This painting also relies on a restricted palette and includes half-length figures with elegant hand gestures along the lower edge. The geometric faceting in Reinoud’s face and the contrast of impasto highlights with thin glazes for shade is typical of Scorel’s portrait method, although in this case occasional retouching obscures some of these details.³⁰³⁰For more on Scorel’s portrait method see Faries in coll. cat. Utrecht 2011, nos. 21a-b. It is the underdrawing, however, that secures the attribution (fig. a). For portraiture, Scorel lays out facial features with assuredly drawn contours, such as the circles revealed around Reinoud’s eyes and the long, curvilinear lines in the nose. Scorel uses this type of underdrawing in his portraits almost without exception.

M. Faries, 2010
Revised by the author, 2016 (download previous version below)

Beets 1939, pp. 200-01 (as Cornelis Anthonisz); Hoogewerff III, 1939, p. 493 (as Cornelis Teunisz); Schenk zu Schweinberg 1960, pp. 93-94 (as Antonio Moro); De Meyere 1981b, pp. 14-15 (as possibly by Cornelis Anthonisz); Armstrong 1990, p. 138, note 7 (as a plausible attribution to Cornelis Anthonisz); Faries 2002, p. 42 (as Jan van Scorel)

1903, p. 246, no. 2192; 1934, p. 263, no. 2192 (as manner of Scorel); 1960, p. 283, no. 2192; 1976, p. 85, no. A 1619 (as attributed to Cornelis Anthonisz)

M. Faries, 2010, 'Jan van Scorel, Portrait of Reinoud III van Brederode (1493-1556), Lord of Vianen, Utrecht, c. 1545', in J.P. Filedt Kok and M. Ubl (eds.), Early Netherlandish Paintings, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.5796