Gerrit van Honthorst, studio of
Portrait of Friedrich Heinrich von Oranien, Stadtholder of the Netherlands
Oil on panel. 74 x 59 cm.
Inscribed in old handwriting to the reverse: "frederico Henrico / Princ van Orangie / Hondt Horst pinxit / Ao 1637" and with a brown varnish seal.
Friedrich Heinrich of Orange was born in Delft in 1584. He was the youngest son of Wilhelm I of Orange and his fourth wife Louise de Coligny. Frederick Heinrich became Stadtholder of the Netherlands in 1652 following the death of his elder brother Moritz. He was able to consolidate the Stadtholdership of several provinces to himself. The principle aim of his policy was to secure independence for the Netherlands from Spain, and to achieve this he signed treaties with Denmark, Sweden, and France throughout the course of the Eighty Years' War. This goal was finally reached with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, when the Northern Netherlands officially broke away from the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. However, Friedrich Heinrich was already dead by this time, as he had passed away one year previously in The Hague.
The present work is listed under the no. 137324 with the RKD in The Hague, and is attributed to the workshop of Gerrit van Honthorst.
Provenance
Auctioned by Sotheby's, London, 30.10.1991, lot 173. – Private ownership, Italy.