Jan Gerard Waldorp

Amsterdam, 1740 – The Hague, 1808

Allegory on Peace, Freedom and Strength brining Abundance through Trade and Seafaring

Signed ‘JG Waldorp’ and dated ‘1787’, lower right
Oil on canvas
H. 75,7 cm. W. 156 cm.

 


PROVENANCE
Private collection, Brasschaat, Belgium

REFERENCE LITERATURE
Eeghen, I.H. van e.a. (1976). Vier eeuwen Herengracht. Amsterdam, p. 611, with ill.;
Zantkuijl, H.J. (1993). Bouwen in Amsterdam. Amsterdam, ill. nr. 1986

 


CATALOGUE NOTE
The present ‘grisaille’ was painted in Waldorp’s Amsterdam period, before he was appointed as assistant for the Nationale Konstgallery in Palace Huis ten Bosch, The Hague, in 1800. At present mostly for his drawings, Waldorp was renowned for his architectural ‘trompe-l’œil’ works and received prestigious commissions, e.g. for the Nieuwe Schouwburg at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, build in 1774 (De Burgerbuurt or Rue Hollandoise, 1775/77, and The Gothic Palace, 1787/94, of which only engravings exist). Some rare grisailles of survived (e.g. Herengracht 597-603, Amsterdam, dated ‘1785/6’). The subject of the present Allegory, celebrating Prosperity through Freedom, is a typical theme for the Age of Enlightened.