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Lot Essay
Never previously offered for sale, this portrait, identified as the Amersfoort merchant Wijnand van Diest, is one of relatively few examples of Bartholomeus van der Helst’s work of the 1640s remaining in private hands. By the time it was painted in 1644, the artist had firmly established himself as the leading portraitist of the ruling classes in Amsterdam. Born in Haarlem, he most likely trained in the Amsterdam workshop of Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy, a respected portraitist in the city. His earliest works, like the 1637 group portrait of The Regends of the Walenweeshuis (Amsterdam, Stichting Hospice Wallon) and the monumental depiction of the Amsterdam Kloveniersdoelen (Musketeers’ Hall): The Civic Guard Company of Capt. Roelof Bicker and Lt. Jan Michielsz. Blaeuw (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) painted in circa 1643, already display the painter’s prodigious talents. The sophistication and grace of his portraits catered perfectly to the tastes of patrons living in Amsterdam at a moment when Rembrandt, the preeminent portraitist for the city’s elite during the 1630s, was increasingly turning toward more incisive and introspective subjects, using an increasingly free technique somewhat at odds with the smooth modelling and clarity demanded by Amsterdam’s wealthy consumers.
Characteristic of van der Helst’s typical elegance and refinement, this portrait shows the painter’s sophisticated and technically superb depiction of fabrics in the richly painted black of the doublet, comparable to the more vibrant but equally skilled depiction of the salmon-coloured velvet doublet and pearl grey cloak of his Portrait of Gerard Andriesz Bicker, painted around two years earlier (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum).
The sitter has been identified as Wijnand van Diest, one of the five sons of Ernst van Diest, Town Councillor from Amersfoort and his wife Neeltgen van Dael. Archival documents record that Wijnand, around the time he commissioned his portrait, was engaged in selling properties in Amserfoort and active as a merchant in the town. His commission of this likeness, by the most fashionable artist working in Amsterdam, would have made a prominent statement about his own wealth and status. The portrait is composed to monumentalise the figure, placing him against a plain brown background and situating him a little above the viewer to convey a sense of his authority and power. Van Diest’s affirmation of his social position is also referenced in the magnificently painted slashed leather glove in his hand, with such items often being used as indicators of rank and prosperity during the seventeenth century. Gloves were also often given as gifts at betrothals or weddings and consequently frequently included in pendant portraits, though no such pendant is known for the present work.
Characteristic of van der Helst’s typical elegance and refinement, this portrait shows the painter’s sophisticated and technically superb depiction of fabrics in the richly painted black of the doublet, comparable to the more vibrant but equally skilled depiction of the salmon-coloured velvet doublet and pearl grey cloak of his Portrait of Gerard Andriesz Bicker, painted around two years earlier (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum).
The sitter has been identified as Wijnand van Diest, one of the five sons of Ernst van Diest, Town Councillor from Amersfoort and his wife Neeltgen van Dael. Archival documents record that Wijnand, around the time he commissioned his portrait, was engaged in selling properties in Amserfoort and active as a merchant in the town. His commission of this likeness, by the most fashionable artist working in Amsterdam, would have made a prominent statement about his own wealth and status. The portrait is composed to monumentalise the figure, placing him against a plain brown background and situating him a little above the viewer to convey a sense of his authority and power. Van Diest’s affirmation of his social position is also referenced in the magnificently painted slashed leather glove in his hand, with such items often being used as indicators of rank and prosperity during the seventeenth century. Gloves were also often given as gifts at betrothals or weddings and consequently frequently included in pendant portraits, though no such pendant is known for the present work.