Portrait_of_Michiel_de_Ruyter_by_Ferdinand_Bol_Rijksmuseum_Amsterdam_SK-A-44

''Portrait of Michiel de Ruyter'' is a 1667 oil on canvas painting of

Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...

Ferdinand Bol Ferdinand Bol (24 June 1616 – 24 August 1680) was a Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman. Although his surviving work is rare, it displays Rembrandt's influence; like his master, Bol favored historical subjects, portraits, numerous self-port ...

, with a marine landscape in the background thought to be by Willem van de Velde (II) including de Ruyter's flagship ''De Zeven Provinciën''. Produced in memory of the

Four Days Battle The Four Days' Battle, also known as the Four Days' Fight in some English sources and as Vierdaagse Zeeslag in Dutch, was a naval battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar that ...

, there were originally six identical versions of the work, each hanging in one of the offices of the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

's Admiralty. One of them is now lost and the one now in the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, was originally for the

Admiralty of Zeeland The Admiralty of Zeeland was one of the five admiralties of the navy of the Dutch Republic. One of its famous admirals was Joost Banckert. The Admiralty of Zeeland was disestablished in 1795, alongside the other admiralties. Board of the Zeeland ...

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

, to which it was given by de Ruyter himself in 1667. Those now in the

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

and

Westfries Museum The Westfries Museum is a museum of regional history established in the Dutch city of Hoorn. It was opened on 10 January 1880 and has been established in a monumental building dating to 1632. This building originally belonged to the Gecommitt ...

were originally in the Navy Department and the

Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier The Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier (Dutch, 'Northern Quarter'), also known as the Admiralty of West Friesland, was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic, made up of West Friesland, a region in the north of the province of Holland. ...

respectively. Others are now in the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

and the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

. The Rijksmuseum version was recorded in the office of the Department of Convoys and Licences (roughly equivalent to a tax office) in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...

in 1795 before being donated to the Rijksmuseum's predecessor the Koninklijk Museum by the Departmental Council of Zeeland. It was later loaned to the

Het Scheepvaartmuseum The National Maritime Museum ( nl, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, ) is a maritime museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The museum had 419,060 visitors in 2012. It ranked as 11th most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2013. The museum had 300,00 ...

for a time.

External links

Webpagina Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
(as Ferdinand Bol, ''Michiel de Ruyter als luitenant-admiraal'').
RKDimages, kunstwerknummer 1853
(as Ferdinand Bol en mogelijk Willem van de Velde (II), ''Portret van Michiel Adriaensz. de Ruyter (1607-1676)'').
Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur
(as Ferdinand Bol en toegeschreven aan Willem van de Velde (II), ''Porträt des Michiel Adriaensz. de Ruyter'').

Bibliography (in Dutch)

*Anoniem (1809) '' Catalogus der schilderijen, oudheden, enz. op het Koninklijk Museum te Amsterdam'', Amsterdam: Gebroeders van Cleeff, p. 10, cat.nr. 37 (als Ferdinand Bol, ‘Het Portrait van den Luitenant Admiraal, Hertog en Ridder Michiel Adriaansz. de Ruiter’). *Anoniem (1830) '' Aanwijzing der schilderijen, berustende op ’s Rijks Museum, te Amsterdam'', .l.: s.n. p. 11, cat.nr. 35 (als Ferdinand Bol, ‘Het portret van den luitenant-admiraal, hertog en ridder Michiel Adriaansz. de Ruiter’). *Anoniem (1839) ''Aanwijzing der schilderijen, berustende op ’s Rijks Museum te Amsterdam'', .l.: s.n. p. 9, cat.nr. 35 (als Ferdinand Bol, ‘Portret van den luitenant admiraal hertog en ridder Michiel Adriaansz. de Ruiter’). Zi
Google Boeken
*Anoniem (1903) ''Catalogus der Schilderijen miniaturen, pastels, omlijste teekeningen, enz. in het Rijks-Museum te Amsterdam'', Amsterdam: Boek- en kunstdrukkerij v/h Roeloffzen-Hübner en Van Santen, p. 55, cat.nr. 549 (als Ferdinand Bol, ''Michiel Adriaensz. de Ruyter''). Zi
archive.org
*Anoniem (1934) ''Catalogus der schilderijen pastels–miniaturen–aquarellen tentoongesteld in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam'', Amsterdam: J.H. de Bussy, p. 53, cat.nr. 549 (als Ferdinand Bol, ''Michiel Adr. de Ruyter''). Zi
delpher.nl

Exhibition History

*''De stadhouder-koning en zijn tijd 1650-1950'',

, Amsterdam, 18 March-29 May 1950, cat.nr. 126.

References

{{Authority control 1667 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Rijksmuseum de Ruyter de Ruyter