Lot 1579 Dα

The sitter of this portrait has not yet been identified. The ceremonial armour and the baton, however, clearly establish his role as a military commander. The portrait follows the compositional scheme for representative portraits, depicting the sitter in three-quarter length against a landscape backdrop. Amsterdam-born Pieter Nason moved to The Hague, the seat of the Dutch government and the Stadtholder, in around 1638/39. He painted numerous portraits of the citizens of this city, as well as foreign diplomats and high-ranking officers from aristocratic families. This large-format portrait is a particularly impressive example of the latter group.

This portrait was once owned by the art dealer D. Katz in Dieren. In August 1940, the brothers Nathan and Benjamin Katz sold a large part of their stock to Alois Miedl for 1.8 million guilders, including this portrait of a general. In their report on the Katz art dealership from 17th December 2012, the Dutch “Restitutiecommissie” confirmed the sale to be a normal business transaction not occurring under duress (“The Committee does not consider these transactions involuntary loss of possession but rather as sales within the context of an art dealership's business activities”). They referred to several statements made by Benjamin Katz after the war stating that Mr Miedl never pressured them into a sale (“In support of this opinion, the Committee refers to Benjamin Katz's post-war statements, in which he indicated at different points in time and in different ways that Miedl never brought any pressure to bear on him or his brother during these transactions”). Cf. Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications for Items of Cultural Value and the Second World War: Summary RC 1.90B, 17.12.2012). The consignor of this work is also in the possession of a confirmation from the lawyer of Nathan and Bejamin Katz' descendants stating that no restitution claims will be made.