Support The panel consists of three vertically grained, tongue-and-groove joined oak planks (approx. 14, 32.5 and 11 cm), approx. 0.8 cm thick. All edges have been slightly trimmed. The reverse is bevelled at the top and bottom, and has very regularly spaced saw marks. Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring was formed in 1624. The panel could have been ready for use by 1635, but a date in or after 1641 is more likely.
Preparatory layers The single, thin, beige ground extends up to the edges of the support. It consists of what appears to be lead white and black pigment, and very fine umber and ochre-coloured pigment particles.
Underdrawing No underdrawing could be detected with the naked eye or infrared photography.
Paint layers The paint extends up to the edges of the support. The composition was built up from dark to light in one to three layers. The background was executed after the figure had been laid out. A single opaque layer of white mixed with some grey was used to model the collar. The lace was then added over a thin, grey underpaint. The black floral motif on the sleeve was applied wet in wet in the grey beneath it. The brushstrokes are clearly visible, varying from rough to smooth, with minimal impasto.
Luuk Hoogstede, 2022

Fair. The front and reverse have old nail holes, now filled and retouched, which were used to attach two horizontal battens to the back of the panel to reinforce the three planks. There are some vertical cracks and a slight difference in level between the planks. A new, small piece of wood was inserted in the top right corner. The paint layers are slightly raised on the wood grain, causing minor losses, especially in the lace. Several deep scratches are visible in the top right corner and above the sitter’s right shoulder. Some old retouchings are slightly discoloured and have become matte. Residues of old varnish are visible in UV light. The varnish has slightly yellowed.

…; from Sybrant Altmann (1822-1890), Amsterdam, fl. 100, to the museum, as Portrait of a Man,¹¹NHA, ARS, IS, inv. 164, no. 291 (9 December 1884, no. 3067); NHA, ARS, Kop., inv. 289, pp. 7-8, no. 53 (17 December 1884). November 1884²²Label on the reverse of the panel.

Object number: SK-A-843

This 1643 likeness of a 27-year-old man at half length is a representative example from the early career of the Delft portraitist Jacob Willemsz Delff II, who at first continued to paint in the manner of his grandfather and teacher Michiel van Mierevelt after the latter’s death in 1641.⁵⁵For a survey of portraiture in Delft see W. Liedtke, ‘Painting in Delft from about 1600 to 1650’, in W. Liedtke et al., Vermeer and the Delft School, exh. cat. New York (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)/London (The National Gallery) 2001, pp. 43-97, esp. pp. 43-54, and R.E.O. Ekkart, ‘Delftse portrettisten 1550-1650’, in A. Jansen, R.E.O. Ekkart and J. Verhave, De portretfabriek van Michiel van Mierevelt (1566-1641), exh. cat. Delft (Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof) 2011-12, pp. 13-23. His pictures are characterized by their traditional approach and soft brushwork.⁶⁶A comparable portrait of the same period is that of a 30-year-old man in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; illustrated in R.E.O. Ekkart, Nederlandse portretten uit de 17e eeuw/Dutch Portraits from the Seventeenth Century, coll. cat. Rotterdam 1995, p. 25.

There are no inscriptions, coat of arms or labels from which the sitter’s name could be inferred.⁷⁷Technical examination with infrared light revealed the inscription ‘A. 2(?)7’ on the back of the panel, which may have been the artist’s reminder to himself of the age to be added on the front. In 1936 Mrs P. Beydals, the Delft city archivist, recognized the man as Salomon van Schoonhoven (1617-1653), Lord Lieutenant and Chief Dike Reeve of Putten in Gelderland,⁸⁸Written communication, Mrs P. Beydals, 24 June 1936; note RMA. The original letter has not been found in the Rijksmuseum archives. the son of an Amsterdam merchant who married Volckera van Beresteyn in Delft on 19 November 1642.⁹⁹For his biography see E.A. van Beresteyn and W.F. del Campo Hartman, Genealogie van het geslacht Van Beresteyn, I, The Hague 1954, pp. 265-69. Unfortunately it is not known on what evidence her identification is based,¹⁰¹⁰Beydals said that she had used the genealogical archive of Jonkheer Dr E.A. van Beresteyn for her research. However, no details have come down to us that would make it possible to check her finding in that extensive archive; note RMA. but there are serious reasons to doubt it.¹¹¹¹The fact that the portrait is not mentioned under the name of Van Schoonhoven at the Iconographisch Bureau in The Hague or in E.A. van Beresteyn and W.F. del Campo Hartman, Genealogie van het geslacht Van Beresteyn, 2 vols., The Hague 1941-54, also suggests that the identification is not generally accepted. There is a documented portrait of Van Schoonhoven that Delff made in 1646,¹²¹²There are two contemporary versions of this portrait; E.A. van Beresteyn and W.F. del Campo Hartman, Genealogie van het geslacht Van Beresteyn, II, The Hague 1941, p. 75, nos. 150-51. That the sitter really is Van Schoonhoven is confirmed by the provenance of both works from old family holdings and by an old inscription on the verso of one of them, which is now in Venlo, Limburgs Museum, on loan from the RCE; R. de Haas et al., Old Master Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue, coll. cat. The Hague (Netherlands Office for Fine Arts, RBK) 1992, p. 82, no. 577 (ill.). and the poor resemblance with the present likeness makes it implausible that the two works depict the same person. Even leaving that aside, the age on the Rijksmuseum’s panel would be incorrect. Salomon van Schoonhoven was born at the end of 1617,¹³¹³He was baptized on 7 December 1617 in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam; E.A. van Beresteyn and W.F. del Campo Hartman, Genealogie van het geslacht Van Beresteyn, I, The Hague 1954, p. 265. so in 1643 he was only 25 or 26. Lacking any further information, this 27-year-old sitter must remain anonymous.

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022

See Key to abbreviations, Rijksmuseum painting catalogues and Acknowledgements

1887, p. 34, no. 266; 1903, p. 81, no. 774; 1934, p. 81, no. 774; 1976, p. 191, no. A 843 (as Portrait of a Man, thought to be Salomon van Schoonhoven (1617-53))

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022, 'Jacob Willemsz. (II) Delff, Portrait of a 27-Year-Old Man, 1643', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20027767