Bartholomeus van der Helst (Haarlem 1613-1670 Amsterdam)

A pair of Portraits: Portrait of a gentleman, before a balustrade with a distant view of Haarlem beyond and Portrait of a lady, before a balustrade with a view out to sea beyond

Man: signed and dated 'B. vander. helst 1655' (on the stone balustrade, lower right)
Lady: signed and dated 'B. vander.helst 1655' (on the stone balustrade, lower left)
oil on canvas
44 x 37 7/8 in. (111.7 x 96.2 cm.)

Provenance:
Jean-Robert Tronchin Boissier (1710-1793), Procureur-Général of Geneva, by 1777, when recorded by
his brother François Tronchin in a list of the most important paintings in Geneva collections, 'Tronchin
Boissier, Un bourguemestre et sa femme, pendans de Barthelemy van der Helst. Les fonds de Jaq.
Ruysdaal', and by inheritance to form part of the
Cabinet de Bessinge, near Geneva, acquired en bloc with the Bessinge estate in 1938, by
Xavier Givaudan, and by descent to the present owner.

Literature:
J. Crosnier, 'Bessinge', Nos Anciens et leurs oeuvres, Geneva, VIII, 1908, pp. 81-3, illustrated.
J.J. de Gelder, Bartholomeus van der Helst, Rotterdam, 1921, p. 178, no. 180, and p. 207, no. 534, 'Een
landschap door een ander schilder'.
M. Roethlisberger, review of the exhibition, 'De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les Collections de François
Tronchin', The Burlington Magazine, CXVI, September 1974, p. 552.
J. van Ghent, Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670): een studie naar zijn leven en zijn werk, Ph.D.
thesis, University of Utrecht, due for publication 2011, no. 77.

Exhibited:
Geneva, Musée Rath, De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les Collections de François Tronchin, 21 June-15
September 1974, no. 4.

A man and a woman, dressed in black, are seated before a balustrade, with dune landscapes bathed in sunlight in the background. Their highly individualized features tell us they are portraits, but their identities are yet unknown. The best clues lie perhaps in the background, where a church is visible as well as a manor with two chimneys. The church can be identified as the Saint Bavo in Haarlem, so apparently the sitters have a connection with this city. It is tempting to think they are the owners of the depicted country retreat near Haarlem. Pieter Biesboer suggested that the house in the middleground  is the estate of Clercq-en-Beeck. In 1655 the owners of this estate were Lucas van Beeck and Christina Steenkiste. They were however, strict Mennonites, who would never have themselves portrayed with such precious jewelry as the woman is wearing. The strings of pearls around her neck and on her cap, her beautifully painted pearl earrings and the two rings she is wearing are a testimony of wealth, an ostentatious display that no self-respecting Mennonite would exhibit. The shimmering satin gown further emphasizes her status as wealthy burgher.
Compared to his wife, the man’s clothing seems somewhat austere. He wears a broad-brimmed hat and a plain black doublet over a white shirt with tasseled collar. This gentlemanly attire was fashionable around 1655, corresponding with the date on the paintings. He is gesturing at his wife, while proudly facing the viewer.

The plants depicted in these portraits could contain covert meanings. The Ivy in the woman’s portrait alludes to enduring love. Just as Ivy clings to the wall, a woman will cling to her husband. The vine that entwines a tree, present in the man’s portrait, is recognized as a symbol of love, and early love in particular. In the emblem book Houwelyk (Marriage) by Jacob Cats the early stage of marriage is represented by a couple standing near a tree entwined with a vine.¹  The same symbolism can be seen in Frans Hals’ Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen. Since our couple is too mature in age to be married for the first time, it is possible that they are here commemorating their second marriage.

Van der Helst employed the spatial device of a balustrade in other portraits, such as the Portrait of Geertruida den Dubbelde (dated 1668, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). Just as our pendants, this portrait and its counterpart, the Portrait of Aert van Nes, are a collaboration between van der Helst and another artist, in this case Ludolf Backhuizen. In the earliest documentation of our pictures, the landscape has been identified as the work of Jacob van Ruisdael. There is mention in a 1742 sale catalogue that Van Ruisdael painted the background for an untraced portrait by Van der Helst, but there are no indications they collaborated more often.² Based on stylistic grounds however, the painter might be found amongst Ruisdael’s followers. For now the author of the landscapes, as well as the identity of the sitters, remains a mystery.

Bartholomeus van der Helst was born in Haarlem in 1613, as the son of an innkeeper. At the age of eighteen he is recorded as living in Amsterdam, when he married Anna du Prire. Soon after, he would receive his first important portrait commissions. In the 1650’s Van der Helst had become the prime portrait painter of Amsterdam, celebrated for his impeccable technique, lively poses and elegant style. The artist’s biographer Arnold Houbraken even calls him the Phoenix of Dutch portrait painters.³ These two portraits show perfectly why he was so much in demand as a portraitist, illustrating his talent at rendering the sumptuous fabrics worn by his sitters and at the same time capturing their individuality-.