Modelled and fired. Coated with a finishing layer.

Flawless.

…; collection Gerardus Murray Bakker (1861-1938), Amsterdam, by 1927;¹¹Written communication A. Staring to J. Leeuwenberg, 18 July 1949. acquired by Jacques Goudstikker (1897-1940), Huize Oostermeer, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, 1930; his widow Désirée Louise Anna Ernestine (Dési) Goudstikker-Von Halban (1912-1996), Huize Oostermeer, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, 1940;²²Written communication from the then management of the Rijksmuseum to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 1 July 1949. The piece was said to have been found in the attic of Mrs D. Goudstikker-Von Halban in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, see written communication J. Leeuwenberg to A. Staring, 17 July 1949. from whom, fl. 1,500, to the museum, 1949

Object number: BK-16126

This unpretentious and serene terracotta portrait probably represents a priest, given the customary collar and tonsure. The maker, Antwerp-born Jan-Baptist Xavery (1697-1724) from The Hague, was the foremost sculptor in the Republic during the second quarter of the eighteenth century. He worked for the court of the stadholder, for the aristocracy and the diplomatic corps, among others (cf. BK-1997-12; BK-1994-3). His clientele also included various (Old-)Catholic churches in The Hague and this portrait might conceivably depict one of his ecclesiastical patrons. In that respect, it has been suggested that it could be a portrait of the curate Johannes Van Baesrode (c. 1702-1759), who was attached to the Old-Catholic parish church in Juffrouw Idastraat in The Hague.³³L. Schade van Westrum, Oud-katholieke kerken: Drie eeuwen verborgen erfgoed van een eigenzinnige geloofsgemeenschap, Zutphen 2010, p. 30. This clandestine church was established between 1720 and 1730 under Father Van Dalenoort, and Xavery took an active part in the sculptural decoration of its interior. In the period when this bust was made, 1732, Van Baesrode was actually associated with the church in The Hague, as Van Dalenoort’s close assistant. He was the curate of the Hague parish between 1728 and 1740, after which he left to become the priest of the parish of St Theresia on the North German island of Nordstrand. By then Van Dalenoort was an elderly man and was not eligible, but Van Baesrode’s age in 1732 (about 30) corresponds with that of the priest portrayed by Xavery. Incidentally, it cannot be ruled out that the portrait is of a foreign priest, affiliated with one of the embassy chapels in The Hague.⁴⁴A. Staring suggested (while simultaneously refuting) the possibility of it being Father Theodore de Breilly, who was affiliated with the French church in Amsterdam from 1716 to 1739, but in 1732 he was probably older than the man in this portrait. Staring also suggested that it portrayed a priest in The Hague, a Jesuit of foreign nationality or an embassy chaplain, though did not mention any names. Written communication A. Staring to J. Leeuwenberg, 18 July 1949.

The simple, informal style of this bust makes it improbable that it was intended to be executed in marble. Freestanding terracotta sculptures, with their lower costs for materials and labour, were a cheaper alternative for marble variants. If this was indeed the portrait of Van Baesrode it might even have been a gift from the sculptor to the curate.

We are well informed about the production of a Xavery terracotta portrait of this type from a diary entry of Adam van Broeckhuysen, an army captain, who sat for the sculptor in 1738. The modelling of his portrait took four sessions in all, each lasting several hours and divided over several days. In the first stage Xavery developed a rough shape, which he refined in the second stage. At the third sitting a recognizable, finished likeness came about. The sculptor completed the wig, armour and scarf during the fourth and last stage. The final touches were completed without the patron being present.⁵⁵J.P.W.A. Smit, ‘Beeldhouwwerk van J.B. Xavery’, Oud Holland 37 (1919), p. 128. The dried clay was then fired and a coat of clay slip or runny plaster pap, known as ‘colour-washing’, was added to give the orange-red terracotta a more natural appearance.

Frits Scholten, 2025

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 379, with earlier literature; U. Geese et al., Nachantike grossplastische Bildwerke, vol. 4: Italien, Niederlande, Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, Frankreich 1540/50-1780, coll. cat. Frankfurt am Main (Liebieghaus) 1984, p. 228; F. Scholten, Gebeeldhouwde portretten/Portrait Sculptures, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. 31; L. Schade van Westrum, Oud-katholieke kerken: Drie eeuwen verborgen erfgoed van een eigenzinnige geloofsgemeenschap, Zutphen 2010, p. 30

F. Scholten, 2025, 'Jan Baptist Xavery, Portrait of a Priest, Possibly the Curate Johannes Van Baesrode (c. 1702-1759), The Hague, 1732', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20035817