Item | Waddesdon Manor

Back to Search Results Search Again

artist or maker

Heyden, Jan van der (b.1637, d.1712)

figures Adriaen van de Velde (b.1636, d.1672)

Date

c 1670

dated stylistically and by artist's dates

Place of production

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Medium

oil on panel

Type of object

paintings

Accession number

2559

Small oil painting of a view of the city of Emmerich am Rhein from an arch of the outer gateway of the Waterpoort along a walled passage to the turreted inner gate. On the left is the octagonal tower of the church of St. Aldegund. Houses and trees are visible behind the wall and through an open gate on the left. Men and women walk along the passage; a guard stands on the right. In the foreground, a peasant woman rides side-saddle on a horse next to a walking cowherd, with cows and goats. A dog urinates on the gateway to the right.

The striking arch draws the viewer towards the inner gate of the Waterpoort in the city of Emmerich, a town on the Rhine, two miles from the modern Dutch border. Jan van der Heyden changed the outline of the church to make a more striking composition. The imposing buildings contrast with the rustic peasants, bringing their animals to market.

Commentary

It was thought that the picture showed the city of Cologne, but it was correctly identified in the early 20th century. Although van der Heyden is known for his realistic townscapes, this panel also shows he was willing to compromise reality for the sake of a striking composition. Christopher White (1959) points out that in contemporary prints the church of St Aldegund is shown with a spire on top of the octagonal drum, a feature that would have detracted from the composition. A painting in the Enschede Rijksmuseum shows a similar view, but with different buildings, indicating that van der Heyden used a combination of sketches of significant landmarks taken on the spot and imaginary details elaborated in the studio to make such paintings.

The figures are thought to be by the Dutch artist Adriaen van de Velde (1636-1672). Whilst van der Heyden was a master at the rendering of the bricks, stonework and foliage of the urban landscape, he was not a confident figure painter and thus collaborated with artists more practiced in this area. The late 17th century was a high-point of such collaborations between specialist artists in the Netherlands.

The painting once belonged to Prince Michel-Alexandrowitsch Galitzin (1804-1860), a Russian minister at the Madrid Court. His seal is on the back of the painting.

Phillippa Plock, 2011

Physical description

Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)

343 x 286

Signature & date

not signed or dated

Marks

[seal of Prince Galitzin]
Collector's mark
on verso are two wax seals, one red, one black

Labels

Morning Room
Left of door entering
bottom
Label
rectangular label with blue border

108
Label
circular label with blue border

5
Label
square lable

History

Provenance

Acquired by Blondel de Gagny (d.Circa 1776) before 1760; bought by Poullain at the Blondel de Gagny sale, Paris, 10 ff December 1776, no. 156, for 3,400 francs; bought by Donjeu at the Poullain sale, Paris 15 ff March 1780, lot no. 79, for 3,015 francs; acquired by Prince Michel-Alexandrowitsch Galitzin (b.1804, d.1860) before 1825; bought by Nieuwenhuys from Anon, (Prince Galitzin etc) sale, Paris, 28 February ff. 1825 no. 20 for 5,210 francs; bought by the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice (b.1780, d.1863) of Bowood before 1844, where recorded by Jameson; by descent to the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Fitzmaurice (b.1845, d.1927); bought from the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne by Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd before 22 November 1888; bought from Agnew's by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898) for £200, stock no. 5052 on 22 November 1888; inherited by his sister Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); bequeathed to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1957.

Collection

Waddesdon (National Trust)
Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957

Bibliography

Jean-Baptiste Descamps; La Vie des peintres flamands, allemands et hollandois; Paris; [n. pub.]; 1753-1763; vol. 3, p. 51
Pierre Rémy; active 1749-1787; Catalogue de tableaux précieux... composent le cabinet de feu M. Blondel de Gagny; 1776; Paris
[n. pub.]; Catalogue Raisonné des Tableaux etc... de feu. M. Poullain; 1780; Paris; no. 79
Jacques Langlier; active c 1780; Catalogue raisonné des tableaux... qui composaient le cabinet de feu M. Poullain; 1780; Paris
Collection de Cent Vingt Estampes... Cabinet de M. Poullain; Paris; François Basan; b.1723, d.1797; 1781; no. 112; as 'Portes de Cologne'
John Smith; A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters; 9 vols; London; Smith and Son; 1829-1842; vol. 5, no. 19
Anna Jameson; Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art; London; Saunders and Otley; 1844; p. 320
Gustav Friedrich Waagen; Treasures of Art in Great Britain: being an account of the chief collections of paintings, drawings, sculptures, illuminated mss; 3 vols; London; John Murray; 1854-1857; vol. 3, p. 163
Cornelis Hofstede de Groot; A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. Vols 5-8 [1907-1927]; Bishops Stortford; Chadwick Healey; 1976; vol. 8, nos 63 and 120
Editorial: A Rothschild Collection for the Nation, The Burlington Magazine, 99, 1957, 223-225; p. 225, fig. 4
♦; Sir Francis Watson, The Art Collections at Waddesdon Manor I: The Paintings, Apollo, 69, June 1959, 172-182; p. 181, fig. 16
Christopher White, Dutch and Flemish Paintings at Waddesdon Manor, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 54, August 1959, 67-74; pp.68-70, fig. 2
Heinrich Dattenberg; Niederrheinansichten holländischer Künstler des 17. Jahrhunderts.; Dusseldorf; Rheinland-Verlag; 1967; no. 223
Ellis Waterhouse, Anthony Blunt; Paintings: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre, The National Trust; 1967; pp. 144-145, cat. no. 60
J Q Van Regteren Altena, Review of The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. Ellis Waterhouse, Paintings., Oud Holland, 85, 1970, 59-61; p. 60
Helga Heikamp-Wagner; Jan van der Heyden 1637-1712; Amsterdam; Scheltema & Holkema; 1971; p. 76, cat. no. 40, p. 135, ill.
Lyckle de Vries; Jan van der Heyden; Amsterdam; Meulenhoff; 1984; p. 29, fig. 16
Pauline Prevost-Marcilhacy; Les Rothschilds, bâtisseurs et mécènes; Paris; Flammarion; 1995; p. 155
♦; Peter Sutton; Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712); Bruce Museum, Greenwich, 16 September 2006 - 10 January 2007; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1 February 2007 - 30 April 2007; New Haven, London; Yale University Press; 2007; pp. 186-87, fig. 1

Indexed terms

Subjects

Genres

Townscape/Genres

Search

Your visit

What's on

The Collection

About us