The oak support consists of a single plank with a vertical grain bevelled on all sides. Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring was formed in 1621. The panel could have been ready for use by 1634, but a date in or after 1638 is more likely. The ground layer is whitish in colour. The paint was applied rather harshly with visible brushstrokes.

Fair. The painting is abraded and overcleaned, particularly in the right background. There are discoloured areas of retouching, and the severely yellowed varnish is desiccated.

...; donated to the museum by the Raad der Amerikaanse Colonieën, as J. Verkolje the Elder, Portrait of Pieter Pietersz Heijn, 16 January 1804¹¹Grijzenhout 1984, p. 64, no. 117.

Object number: SK-A-204

Credit line: Gift of the Raad der Amerikaanse Coloniën

This painting was donated to the Rijksmuseum in 1804 as a portrait of the Dutch naval hero Pieter Pietersz Heijn.²²See Grijzenhout 1984, p. 64, no. 117; this identification was followed in coll. cat. 1809, p. 40, no. 166. Opinions on this identification have differed ever since. For a long time it was agreed that the sitter was an admiral, because a sea battle was visible through the vista on the right. He was identified as Maerten Harpertsz Tromp (1598-1653) in the collection catalogues of 1880 and 1885, but in 1887 the name of Lieutenant-Admiral Hendrik Cornelis Loncq (1568-?) was put forward.³³See Collection catalogues. Hofstede de Groot believed that the sea vista, breastplate and multi-stranded gold chain with a medal were later overpaints, and that the sitter was thus not necessarily an admiral.⁴⁴Hofstede de Groot 1899a, p. 168. The naval battle and the medal were then removed, probably by J.A. Hesterman in 1901. The sitter has since been documented as an unknown officer. However, the initial identification as Piet Heijn is the most likely, because the painting was donated by the Council of the American Colonies together with Piet Heijn’s armour and a silver wash-basin and ewer from the Spanish silver fleet that Heijn captured in 1628.⁵⁵Grijzenhout 1984, p. 64, nos. 117-19. The basin, ewer and armour are illustrated in De Visser 2001, p. 65, fig. 39, p. 43, fig. 23, p. 80, fig. 51 respectively. Comparison with authenticated portraits of Piet Heijn also confirm that this must be the famous admiral.⁶⁶For his portraits see, for example, De Visser 2001, p. 34, fig. 14, p. 35, fig. 15, p. 59, fig. 36. The naval battle on the right, and the chain and medal, which Hofstede de Groot regarded as later additions, may therefore have been removed in error. The engraved portraits of Piet Heijn made in 1629 may have served as the prototype,⁷⁷De Visser 2001, p. 72, fig. 42. so it is likely that the painting can be dated 1630-40, which is supported by the flat, broad collar extending over the shoulders.

The painting has been attributed to many artists. It entered the museum as a work by J. Verkolje the Elder,⁸⁸Grijzenhout 1984, p. 64, no. 117. but in 1809 it was reassigned to Nicolaas Koedijk.⁹⁹Coll. cat. 1809, p. 40, no. 166. Hofstede de Groot attributed it to Simon Kick,¹⁰¹⁰Hofstede de Groot 1899a, p. 168. but in the 1903 catalogue it was given to Wybrand de Geest.¹¹¹¹Coll. cat. 1903, p. 104, no. 962. Finally, in 1976, it was ascribed to Harmen Willems Wieringa.¹²¹²Coll. cat. 1976, p. 604, no. A 204. This was probably based on the fact that Wassenbergh had associated it with a group of portraits of Frisian stadholders and officers that was thought to have been painted in De Geest’s studio, supposedly with Wieringa’s participation.¹³¹³Wassenbergh 1967, p. 33. All the portraits in that group are small full-lengths with simple settings. Although the Rijksmuseum portrait fits well within the group as regards size and composition, the rather weak execution, which is particularly noticeable in the unconvincing table leg and the sitter’s hand, rules out an attribution to either artist. Moreover, it is unlikely that this portrait was ever part of the group, since Piet Heijn would not have qualified for inclusion in the company of Frisian stadholders and officers. No alternative attribution can be suggested at present.

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. 430.

Hofstede de Groot 1899a, p. 168 (as Simon Kick); Wassenbergh 1967, p. 33 (as studio of Wybrand de Geest, possibly Harmen Willems Wieringa)

1809, p. 40, no. 166 (as Nicolaas Koedijk); 1843, p. 35, no. 170 (as Nicolaas Koedijk; ‘is filled, touched up in the cracks in the varnish’); 1880, p. 177, no. 186 (as Nicolaas Koedijk, Portrait of an Admiral, probably Marten Harpertszoon Tromp, 45 x 36 cm); 1887, p. 94, no. 786 (as J. Koedijck, Portrait of an Admiral, possibly Admiral Hendrik Cornelis Loncq, Born in Rozendaal, 1568, 45 x 36 cm); 1903, p. 104, no. 962 (as attributed to Wybrand de Geest, Portrait of a Captain); 1976, p. 604, no. A 204 (as attributed to Harmen Willems Wieringa, Portrait of an Officer); 2007, no. 430

Y. Bruijnen, 2007, 'anonymous, Portrait of Pieter Pietersz Heijn (1577-1629), c. 1630 - c. 1640', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20026957