(Wesel 1493–1555 Cologne)
Portrait of a gentleman, traditionally identified as the Cologne councillor Johan van Ryndorp (1505–1551/2),
with inscription lower left: VNIVERSA,VANITAS,PRETER,AMARE,DE/ VM,
oil on panel, 83 x 57 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Anton Joseph Essingh (1787–1864), Cologne;
his sale, J. M. Heberle, Cologne, 18 September 1865, lot 57 (as Hans Holbein);
Collection of Franz Merkens (1823–1905) and Maria Katharina Merkens, née Essingh (1827–1905);
by descent to Walter Merkens (1867–1929), Bad Honnef until 1926;
with Paul Cassirer, Berlin (no. 5107), 22 October 1926 until 14 June 1935;
sale, Paul Graupe, Berlin, 27 May 1935, lot 59 (as Bruyn, auctioned as Besitz Bankh. D.- Sch. = Delbrück und Schickler, Berlin by order of Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer);
Collection of Heinrich Neuerburg (1883–1956), Cologne;
sale, Lempertz, Cologne, 15 November 1972, lot 34;
Private collection, Northern Germany

We are grateful to the Paul Cassirer Archive for their assistance with the provenance research of this lot.

Exhibited:
Munich, Galerie Fleischmann, Das Bildnis in der deutschen Renaissance, 1931, cat. no. 9 (as Bartholomäus [Barthel] Bruyn der Jüngere);
Cologne, Kunsthaus Lempertz in cooperation with the Wallraf–Richartz–Museum, Barthel Bruyn 1493-1555. Gesamtverzeichnis seiner Bildnisse und Altarwerke. Gedächtnisausstellung aus Anlass seines vierhundertsten Todesjahres, June – August 1955, cat. no. 66 (as Barthel Bruyn)

Literature:
J. van Endert (ed.), Die Essingh’sche Kunstsammlung in Köln, in: Organ für christliche Kunst, Cologne 1865, vol. XV, p. 201 (as Bartholomäus Bruyn);
R. Heinemann-Fleischmann, Das Bildnis in der deutschen Renaissance, exhibition and sales catalogue, Munich 1931, pp. 10–11, cat. no. 9, illustrated (as Bartholomäus [Barthel] Bruyn der Jüngere);
H. May, Barthel Bruyn 1493–1555. Gesamtverzeichnis seiner Bildnisse und Altarwerke. Gedächtnisausstellung aus Anlass seines vierhundertsten Todesjahres, exhibition catalogue, Cologne 1955, p. 29, no. 66 (as Barthel Bruyn);
H. Westhoff-Krummacher, Barthel Bruyn der Ältere als Bildnismaler, Berlin 1965, pp. 151–52, cat. no. 76, illustrated p. 152 (as Barthel Bruyn der Ältere)

The present imposing portrait shows a refined example of Renaissance portraiture of the Rhine area. The sitter is depicted in three-quarter-length and is positioned almost frontally. The upper body of this wealthy-dressed man is slightly turned to the left which is enhanced by his outwards-looking gaze in the same direction. Considering the long fur topcoat and his black-dyed tunic with padded shoulders, the gentleman must have been prominent. This particular tunic was much favoured amongst men of status of the period and along with the long grey beard, that came into fashion North of the Alps and spread across Europe, was considered to enhance their masculinity. The pair of carefully decorated grey suede gloves, the black beret, and the golden rings also emphasise the sitter’s status. The ring on the index finger could be a signet ring but does not reveal any sign of a family crest or monogram. The ring on his little finger has a set of blue and green gemstones and could possibly refer to the sitter’s personal status or even be a wedding ring.

The sitter has traditionally been identified as the Cologne councillor Johan van Ryndorp (1505–1551/2) however, in the 1965 publication on Bruyn I by Westhoff-Krummacher (see literature) this identification is questioned as neither the heraldic literature nor the Van Ryndorp family wills have records with references to the coat-of-arms illustrated in the upper left corner of the present painting. According to Westhoff-Krummacher it is therefore unclear what the identification of Johan van Ryndorp is based on. The exquisitely painted family crest shows three golden collared dogs or possibly bears on a diagonal curved blue ribbon against a black shield. The coat-of-arms is crowned with a knight’s helmet and is decorated with a so-called mantling that elegantly entwines around the shield. The family crest is again repeated in miniature above the helmet.

The combination of the gaze of the gentleman, the delicate ring and above all the shape of the panel may indicate the portrait possibly came along with a pendant, and that together the pair formed a diptych. However, one would expect the reverse of the panel to be decorated with either a coat-of-arms or possibly an added still life scene, as can be seen in other works of Bartholomäus Bruyn I, such as in the Portrait of Margaretha von Mochau conserved in the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo (inv. no. KM 102.025). This, of course, could have been removed when the diptych was separated. Until now there seems to be no match with a female portrait by Bruyn I of similar size and shape or that of a man who could have been related to the sitter.

The portrait genre was widely practiced from the Renaissance onwards and these often private works were not necessarily individually hung, but in the case of diptychs, depending on the size, were closed and opened whilst on a standard or pedestal. In previous times portraiture was strictly and only reserved for sovereigns, during this grand time of transition it gradually became customary among the elite of councillors, merchants, lawyers and their spouse’s, who loved to mirror these traditions, to commission portraits often lavishly filled with motifs referring to their professions and social status. The present painting, however, does not show any elements which are indicative of the career of the present sitter. During the second half of the sixteenth century a sober portrait style became fashionable, and the portrayed were painted more and more on a life size scale. Taking this into account, Westhoff-Krummacher dates the present portrait to circa 1550–55.

While Bruyn I executed this portrait, contemplation about the finiteness of life and notions about the afterlife occupied the human mind daily. Death was never far away during the late Renaissance and the urge to visually underline the awareness of mortality is seen in the use of symbols in portraiture of the period. Especially in Northern Europe memento mori motifs are encountered in the form of smouldering wicks of candles, soap bubbles, hourglasses and skulls, as is seen in the present painting. Another fine example in which Bruyn combined these elements is the Portrait of a man conserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. 868, see fig. 1). The relation between the present painting and the Vienna portrait is evident. The skulls in both paintings form a clear contrast between the liveliness of the sitters and the possibly unexpected ending of their lives that awaits them. Bruyn I used these symbols in many of his portraits and combines these in his still life scenes, a genre which developed around this time. The artist experimented with trompe l’oeil effects such as the large fly on the frontal bone of the skull in the present panel. The painted inscription VNIVERSA VANITAS PRETER AMARE DEVM matches with the memento mori motif of the skull and can be interpreted as ‘All is Vanity but loving God’, deriving from the famous text De Imitatione Christi (Thomas a Kempis, Augsburg, circa 1470).

Bartholomäus Bruyn I also known as Barthel Bruyn was the great pioneer of the Cologne school of painting and was a pupil of Jan Joest in Haarlem alongside Joos van Cleve, which may explain the brilliance and richness of Bruyn’s colouring and handling of diverse textures. A remarkable example of the masters exquisite painting techniques is the Xantener Altar, which is believed to be the master’s most impressive and monumental work, still in situ in the Xanten Cathedral. Bruyn I was succeeded in his endeavour by his son Barthel Bruyn the Younger (1530–1607) who, like his father was noted for his refined portraits. Indeed, some of these works by, both father and son, have, erroneously in the past, been attributed to Hans Holbein II, a testament to their quality. As a portraitist, Bruyn’s clientele consisted of the nobility and elite of the Lower Rhine region amongst whom was the German born Anne of Cleves, the fourth of the unfortunate wives of King Henry VIII of England. Her portrait is today conserved at St. John’s College, University of Oxford (inv. no. PP02). Other portraits of Bruyn I are conserved in international collections such as the National Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne.

Technical analysis by Gianluca Poldi:

The work is painted on two oak boards placed vertically, 9-10 mm maximum thickness, and well preserved, with a few retouches. The back still shows, in raking light, the signs of workmanship with the gouge, and the L-cuts along all the edges to allow insertion into the original shaped frame, with its lobed shape. This frame must have had wooden strips adhering to the panel on the recto, as demonstrated by the unpainted band of about one centimetre along the edges. The white ground was applied when these strips were already glued, as demonstrated by the slight rising of the margins of the preparation itself.

Two inscriptions appear on the reverse (‘D.31.’ and ‘HOLBEIN 1520’) painted in black with two different materials, therefore probably not by the same hand, and a numerical inscription (‘15[...]25’) in red in the upper part, placed in a box and almost completely erased, probably modern.

Infrared reflectography revealed a thin drawing made over the extremely smooth ground layer, and carried out with a sharp black chalk, a graphic medium typical of Flemish practice at that time, and the painting technique is overall that developed in Flanders, with the use of thin glazes, coherent with the artistic training hypothesised for Barthel Bruyn the Elder in the Lower Rhine. Only a few lines of this drawing appear clearly, and typically where the painting doesn’t follow exactly the underdrawing, which happens in a few areas. Graphic signs can be seen along the fingers of the right hand, the ring finger being shortened during the painting phase, and along the skull: in the orbits of the skull the drawing is freer and repeats the shape several times (see fig. 2). Thin freehand lines outline the table and hint at the shadow cast on it by the skull. The drawing underneath the face is almost invisible, though the fingers in the left hand show alterations: the thumb was positioned lower, tightening further around the glove, so as to leave part of the nail visible; whilst the tips of the other fingers were longer too.

The outstanding quality of the painting and the ability of the painter is testified also by microscopy, showing the choices of pigments and mixtures. Pigments were examined by means of reflectance spectroscopy in many points. Particularly impressive is the background, seeming brownish but really obtained with glazes of verdigris and lead-tin yellow probably using a pad after applying to obtain the final light-shadow chromatic modulations. Flesh tones are a usual mixtures of lead white with vermillion, and some amounts of finely grinded black pigment. The brown of the fur contains a brown earth with high organic content, probably a Kassel-type one, while a yellow ochre (goethite) is employed in the table and skull. A blue pigment, azurite, is also used, which, in small quantities to avoid an overly bright colour, is found in the precious stone of the ring, in the grey-blue of the fly leaning on the skull and in the irises of the eyes.

The Latin inscription is coherent with the painting and in perfect condition.