The first exhibition devoted to two of Rembrandt’s most important pupils, Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck. For more information: https://www.rembrandthuis.nl/en/bezoek/tentoonstellingen/exhibition-ferdinand-bol-and-govert-flinck-rembrandts-master-pupils/ With a publication ed. by Stephanie Dickey, Zwolle: W Books, 2017. ISBN 978-94-6258-222-4, $47.50.
On January 16, 2018, the exhibition received two new Govert Flinck portraits that have not been on display in over a century. They are from 1654, and in good condition.The paintings have been sold at an auction in 1894, after which they disappeared from the public view. The owner of the paintings heard of the exhibition and offered to lend the portraits to the Amsterdam Museum for the remainder of the exhibition.
The identity of the portraits remains uncertain. They might be Johan de Mauregnault (1607-1682), representative of the States of Zeeland, and his second wife Petronella van Panhuys (?-1687). The couple lived in Amsterdam in 1654 and the provenance of the paintings has been traced back to the De Mauregnault family. However, the commissioner of the portraits might also be related to the Court of The Hague. In 1654, Flinck painted a large canvas in Huis ten Bosch for Amalia van Solms, widow of Stadholder Frederik Hendrik. The couple must have had Orangist sympathies because the man is portrayed holding an orange. Flinck’s presence in The Hague might have been an opportunity for them to be portrayed by the artist.
