The support consists of three oak panels, and has been cradled. Bevels are present at the top and bottom edges. Because of the cradle it has not been possible to determine whether the support is also bevelled on the sides. The paint layers were applied smoothly over a beige-coloured ground layer. Impasto was used for the highlights on the sword, chain and buttons. Pentimenti reveal that the hands were originally smaller.

Poor. The cradle has caused the panel to warp, and there are numerous cracks. The entire background has been thickly overpainted and has a wide crack pattern. There are numerous discoloured retouchings in the beard. The thick layer of varnish is discoloured and very shiny.

…; from the dealer Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, fl. 75, as Van Ravesteyn ?, to Victor de Stuers, for the museum, 1882¹¹RANH, ARM, Kop, inv. 39, pp. 314-15, no. 17 (18 April 1882).

Object number: SK-A-738

In the past this was considered to be a portrait of Justinus of Nassau (1559-1631), the bastard son of William the Silent.²²For Justinus of Nassau’s biography see the entry on SK-A-536. The only argument put forward for this identification has been the gold chain worn by the sitter; in his capacity as lieutenant-admiral, Justinus was given a gold chain worth 1,200 guilders by the States of Zeeland for his last military operation against the Spanish fleet near Sluis in 1600.³³See Stevens in Amsterdam 2000a, p. 171. However, numerous military figures received gold chains in this period. Comparison with secure portraits of Justinus of Nassau, such as the one in the Leeuwarden Series (SK-A-536), makes this identification untenable.

Both the sitter and the artist who executed this three-quarter length portrait must remain anonymous for the time being. The sitter’s lace collar indicates that the painting was executed in the second decade of the 17th century.

Jonathan Bikker, 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. 411.

Stevens in Amsterdam 2000a, p. 171, no. 8 (as Portrait of Justinus van Nassau)

1887, p. 71, no. 569; 1903, p. 19, no. 197; 1934, p. 17, no. 197 (as Portrait of Justinus of Nassau); 1976, pp. 656-57, no. A 738 (as Portrait of a Man, Said to be Justinus of Nassau); 2007, no. 411

J. Bikker, 2007, 'anonymous, Portrait of a Man, c. 1610 - c. 1620', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20025874