Portrait of a Captain surnamed Ripperda

The support is a lined canvas, with cusping slightly visible at bottom left and top. The ground layer has a light colour. The painting was smoothly executed with visible brushstrokes throughout, particularly in the clothing. The contours of the arms were slightly reduced.

Poor. There are several tears throughout, while the painting was flattened due to lining. It is badly abraded and has numerous discoloured areas of retouching and overpaint.

...; ? estate inventory, Frisian Stadholder’s Court, Leeuwarden, 16 August 1633, large blue room (‘Veertien stuck schildereien van capiteinen’), and the room next to the large room (‘Seeventien schildereien van capiteinen en ritmeisters.’);¹¹Drossaers/Lunsingh Scheurleer II, 1974, p. 53. inventory of paintings, Frisian Stadholder’s Court, Leeuwarden, c. 1800, Garde du Corps Hall (‘13. Capt Ripperda’);²²Tresoar, Leeuwarden, Familiearchief Van Eysinga-Vegelin van Claerbergen, inv. no. 536; Mulder-Radetzky 1997, pp. 197, 203....; first recorded in the museum in 1808;³³Moes/Van Biema 1909, pp. 159, 208; RANH, ARS, Kop, inv. 289, p. 282, no. 643 (18 October 1890). on loan to the Nederlands Legermuseum, Delft, since 1953

ObjectNumber: SK-A-576

This portrait was first recorded in the museum in 1808 as a painting by an unknown master,⁴⁴Moes/Van Biema 1909, pp. 159, 208. but was attributed to Frans Hals in the collection catalogue of the following year. In 1827 it was rightly transferred to the list of anonymous artists.⁵⁵Coll. cat. 1827, p. 95, no. 420. The sitter was identified in the collection catalogue of 1827 as the commander of the Haarlem garrison, Wigbolt Ripperda (c. 1535-73).⁶⁶Coll. cat. 1827, p. 95, no. 420. Although this incorrect identification was abandoned in the 1887 collection catalogue, it was wrongly resurrected in Temminck 1973, p. 267. Murray Bakker justifiably argued that it was unlikely that this 17th-century portrait of an officer in contemporary dress was intended as a historical portrait of the 16th-century Wigbolt Ripperda.⁷⁷Murray Bakker 1898, pp. 30-31. He suggested three more suitable candidates: Focco Ripperda, in the pay of Friesland, Unico Ripperda or his brother Eggerich Adriaen Ripperda, both in the pay of Overijssel.⁸⁸For information about these officers see also Ten Raa/De Bas II, 1913, p. 367, III, 1915, pp. 35, 159. Murray Bakker’s argument was restated in Joosting 1916. At present it is impossible to say which of the three Ripperdas this is, although Focco is the most likely because of his service for Friesland from 1599 to 1617. A fourth possibility is Jurjen Ripperda (1571-1632), who was a captain in the States army and steward of the Frisian court of Ernst Casimir of Nassau. His portrait was painted by Wybrand de Geest in 1625, when he was 54 years old, and the facial features he has in common with the sitter in this portrait are the rather deep-set eyes, the prominent nose and the receding hairline.⁹⁹Leeuwarden, Fries Museum; illustrated in De Vries 1982, p. 47, no. 1. Jurjen would be younger in this portrait, placing it around 1615-20, which is not contradicted by the flat, semi-circular standing band.¹⁰¹⁰Note IB.

Like four other officers’ portraits, those of Karel van der Hoeven (SK-A-877), Eberhardt Hanekrodt (SK-A-875), Bartholomeus Andrio Walsdorffer (SK-A-1230) and Otto Brahe (SK-A-876), this one once adorned the Stadholder’s Court in Leeuwarden.¹¹¹¹Mulder-Radetzky 1997, p. 197. It is listed as number 13, ‘Capt Ripperda’, in an inventory of paintings hanging in the Garde du Corps Hall.¹²¹²See Provenance. For a discussion of this provenance and the relationship between the five portraits, see the entry on the portrait of Karel van der Hoeven (SK-A-877).

This portrait of Ripperda differs from the other four in its looser style and visible brushstrokes, mainly seen in the clothing, and the sitter’s convincing pose. An attribution is not yet possible.

Yvette Bruijnen, 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. 414.

Murray Bakker 1898, pp. 30-31; Joosting 1916, pp. 133-35; Mulder-Radetzky 1997, pp. 197, 203

1809, p. 27, no. 110 (as Frans Hals); 1827, p. 95, no. 420 (without attribution, as Portrait of Wigbolt Ripperda); 1843, p. 24, no. 109 (as Frans Hals, Portrait of Ripperda; ‘in good condition’); 1858, p. 186, no. 413; 1880, p. 379, no. 438 (as Dutch School, 16th century, Portrait of Wigbolt Ripperda); 1887, p. 70, no. 561 (as Portrait of Wigbolt Ripperda); 1903, p. 19, no. 190; 1976, p. 657, no. A 576; 2007, no. 414

Y. Bruijnen, 2007, 'anonymous, Portrait of a Captain surnamed Ripperda, c. 1615 - c. 1620', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.6939