Sculpted in relief.

Good.

…; ? donated by King William I of the Netherlands (1772-1843), to the Dutch State, 1816; transferred from the Mauritshuis, The Hague, to the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden, The Hague, date unknown;¹¹Note RMA. transferred to the Nederlands Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1875;²²Note RMA. transferred to the museum, 1885

Object number: BK-NM-260

Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the spouse of Stadholder Willem V, is portrayed here in profile, with her body turned three-quarters to the left. She is wearing a dress with a low neckline, concealed by the frills of her chemise. A stylish cloak is draped around her shoulders. On her head she wears a tiara, and roses have been fastened in her hanging corkscrew curls which are also interwoven with a pearl necklace. The flat background is offset with a profile frame edged with pearl beading. In view of the age at which the princess was depicted, the portrait can be dated at approximately 1770-85. The relief may have come from the stadholder’s collection. King William I (1772-1843), the son of Stadholder William V, donated the collection to the State in 1816. Much of the collection was initially housed in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, including this marble medallion, and ultimately transferred to the Rijksmuseum in 1885.

The marble portrait medallion is still entirely in keeping with the rococo style which made advances in the Netherlands under Wilhelmina’s father-in-law, Prince William IV (1711-1751) and in fact began to decline round 1765, with the advent of Neo-Classicism. The portrait medallions made by the German-born gem-cutter and medallist, Johann Heinrich Schepp, who had been in the stadholder’s service since 1783, are similar in style (cf. BK-NM-253). Yet, an attribution to that artist would be problematic, since Schepp had never worked in marble, as far as we know.³³For Schepp, see A. Staring, ‘De medailleur J.H. Schepp en Frans Hemsterhuis’, Oud Holland 64 (1949), pp. 83-103 and M. Scharloo, ‘Drie creatieve geesten’, in F. Grijzenhout and C. Tuyll van Serooskerken, Edele eenvoud, neo-classicisme in Nederland 1765-1800, exh. cat. Haarlem (Frans Halsmuseum and Teylers Museum) 1989, pp. 99-101. Nevertheless, the unknown maker of the portrait, like Schepp, should probably also be sought at the House of Orange court or else at that of Wilhelmina’s royal relatives in Prussia.

Bieke van der Mark, 2026

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 429

B. van der Mark, 2026, 'anonymous or , Portrait Medallion of Princess Frederika Sophia Wilhelmina of Prussia (1751-1820), NetherlandsPruisen, c. 1775 - c. 1785', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20035868