Studio of Wybrandt de Geest - SOLD

This portrait of Ernst Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz, follows a full-length portrait by Wybrand de Geest, which is kept in the collection of the Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. The present painting was made in De Geest's workshop. Wybrand de Geest had a rather productive studio, that made various portraits of the Frisian Stadtholders, their family members and the local aristocracy. After De Geest was appointed the official artist at the Court in Leeuwarden, he and his studio were responsible for the majority of portraits of the Frisian House of Nassau. As such, several variations on the full-length state portrait-type are known. Apart from the one in the Fries Museum, other variations can be found in the Rijksmuseum and the Dutch Royal Collection. In her monograph about De Geest (published in 1982), De Vries mentions several different versions of official portraits of Ernst Casimir and his wife painted by De Geest and his studio. The present painting, however, was unknown to her. Ernst Casimir is depicted in state attire, wearing a suit of armour, holding the admiral staff in his right hand, the left placed on the visor of a feathered helmet, referring to his rank of commander and his position as a leading member of the Dutch aristocracy in their fight against Spanish rule in the Netherlands.

ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY

Wybrand Simonsz. de Geest was born in Leeuwarden in 1592 as the son of Roman Catholic parents. (His mother had even been a nun until 1580). After having studied with his father Simon Juckesz., he became a pupil of Abraham Bloemaert in Utrecht. De Geest is known to have been active at various locations. He is documented in Leeuwarden in 1611, in Utrecht between 1613 and 1614, in Paris from 1614 until 1616, in Aix-en-Provence later that year and in Rome between December 1616 and 1618. In Rome he joined the so-called Bentveughels, a society of Flemish and Dutch artists. Each member had an assumed name or ‘Bent name’ and De Geest was known as ‘the Frisian Eagle’. Benedict Nicolson states that De Geest might have travelled from Rome to Naples in 1620. It is sure that he had returned to his hometown of Leeuwarden by 1621. In 1622 De Geest married Hendrickje Uylenburgh (1600 – ca. 1682). She was a grand niece of Saskia van Uylenburgh, who got married to Rembrandt in 1634. In the same year, Rembrandt visited De Geest’s studio in Leeuwarden. De Geest was productive, which apparently brought him prosperity. It is known that he possessed a renowned collection of curiosities and coins. Charles Ogier, secretary to Cardinal Richelieu, visited De Geest in 1636 to admire his large collection. Presumably De Geest remained in Leeuwarden until his death. He is last documented in there in 1659 and most likely died there between 1661 and 1665.

De Geest was Court painter of three Frisian stadtholders: Ernst Casimir I and of his two sons, Hendrik Casimir I (1612 - 1640) and Willem Frederik (1613 - 1664). He regularly received Court commissions and even kept a friendly relationship with stadtholder Willem Frederik. Leeuwarden was the official Court town of the Frisian stadtholders and the main economic centre of the Northern provinces. As such, it can be compared to other contemporary middle-sized Dutch towns, such as Hoorn or Alkmaar. Even though the stadtholders were often absent from their residence, the Court life blossomed at the time that De Geest was active and he received many commissions from leading aristocratic families.

Although a pupil of Abraham Bloemaert, Wybrand de Geest’s oeuvre demonstrates a strong influence of the Utrecht portrait painter Paulus Moreelse (1571 - 1638). Count Ernst Casimir I regularly resided in Utrecht before his move to Leeuwarden in 1620 and he possessed several important portraits by Moreelse. Though speculative, the similarity in style between Moreelse and De Geest may explain why Ernst Casimir favoured De Geest with his patronship.

Wybrand de Geest ran a large and productive studio and trained several pupils. Among his pupils ranks Jacob Adriaensz. Backer (1608 - 1651). Two of Wybrand’s sons became painters: François de Geest specializing in still lifes and Julius de Geest in portraits, history subjects and also still lifes. Wybrand’s grandson, Wybrandus de Geest (1667 - 1716), was active as both painter and poet. In order to distinguish the grandfather from his grandson, the present painter is sometimes referred to as ‘Wybrand I’ or ‘Wybrand the Elder’.

ERNST CASIMIR I

Ernst Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz, was born in Dillenburg on 22 December 1573. He was the eleventh child of John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg (1536 - 1606) and Elisabeth Countess of Leuchtenberg. John VI was a younger brother of William I of Orange. John VI had inherited the German possessions, while his brother William I had inherited the Dutch ones, in addition to the Principality of Orange in France. After the death of his father, John VI, the County of Nassau was divided among his five living sons and Ernst Casimir I became Count of Nassau-Dietz. In 1607 Ernst Casimir married Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg. From this marriage nine children were born. After the death of his brother Willem Lodewijk in 1620, Ernst Casimir also became stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe. Ernst Casimir I was primarily known as an outstanding military leader during the Eighty Years War. He served under Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange in the siege of the cities of Steenwijk and Oldenzaal, and under Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange during the Siege of Groenlo and the Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch. As Stadholder of Groningen he founded the Nieuweschans fortress in 1628. Nieuweschans is today the easternmost municipality of Holland and its northernmost border town. Although he did not reside much in Friesland, he was popular there, and the Frisian people granted his heir the right to rule after Ernst Casimir’s death.

The Frisian stadtholders were very often absent from Court. Until the end of the Eighty Years War (the Peace of Munster in 1648) and the final recognition of the Dutch Republic by Spain, they were fighting the Spaniards during summer, while they would spend the major part of winter in The Hague, where Court and social life were much more interesting. It was only in January that the Frisian stadtholders returned to Leeuwarden and a few months later, their war obligations started all over again. Even though often absent from his official residence, Court life became richer and more fashionable in Leeuwarden under the rule of Ernst Casimir. His will mentions 288 paintings, most of them portraits. Most of these paintings belonged to his wife’s family, the dukes of Brunswijk, who were related to the royal families of Denmark, England and Bohemia.

Ernst Casimir was killed by a bullet at the Siege of Roermond while he was inspecting the trenches in June 1632. His hat and the bullet that killed him were carefully kept at the stadtholder’s Court in Leeuwarden. Today the hat is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

HERITAGE

The work of Wybrand de Geest is represented in the collections of the Royal collection (or the ‘Stichting Historische Verzamelingen van het Huis Oranje-Nassau), The Hague, the Netherlands; the Rijksmuseum , Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands; The Royal Palace Het Loo, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands; Rijksmuseum Muiderslot, Muiden, the Netherlands; Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, the Netherlands; Württembergische Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany; Bremer Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Bremen, Germany; Muzeum Narodowe we Wroclawiu, Wroclaw, Poland; Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille, France.

References

Bakker, P. (2008). Lexicon van schilders in Friesland (1590-1700) In: Gezicht op Leeuwarden. Schilders in Friesland en de markt voor schilderijen in de Gouden Eeuw, Amsterdam: Universiteit van Amsterdam, pp. 177-248; pp. 198-199

Bruijnen, Y. (2006). Sophia Anna van Pipenpoy geschilderd door Wybrand de Geest. Een Friese Grande Dame met een neus voor onsterfelijkheid. In: Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, pp. 359-369

Hofstede de Groot, C. (1889). Het vriendenalbum van Wibrand Symonszoon de Geest. In: Oud-Holland 7, pp. 235-240

Houbraken, Arnold (1718). De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen. The Hague

Keyser, P. de (1945-1948). De kunsthistorische betekenis van Den getrouwen Leidsman in Rome van Wibrand de Geest de Jonge. In: Gentse Bijdragen tot de kunstgeschiedenis, no. 11, pp. 185-206

Nicolson, B. (1979). Caravaggism in Europe. Oxford (2e ed.), Vol. 1, p. 110

Pauw-De Veen, de L. (1956). Den grondt der edel vry schilder-const van Karel van Mander en Den leermeester der schilderkonst van Wibrandus de geest : een korte vergelijking. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, 34, pp. 363-384

Vries, L. de (1982). Wijbrand de Geest, "De Friesche Adelaar": portretschilder in Leeuwarden 1592-1661: met een catalogus van zijn werk in het Fries Museum. Leeuwarden: Fries Museum

Wassenbergh, A. (1967). De portretkunst in Friesland in de zeventiende eeuw. Lochem, pp. 30-40