Lot 176: Heroman van der Mijn , Amsterdam circa 1684 - 1741 London Tamar oil on panel with a shaped top

oil on panel with a shaped top

measurements note 18 7/8 by 15 1/2 in.; 48 by 39.3 cm.

Anonymous sale, Brussels, Galerie Fievez, 1930s, lot 153(?) as Adriaen van der Werff;
Where purchased by the father of the present owners.

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
This very fine painting may be a pendant to another picture by Heroman van der Mijn, signed and dated 1719 (see fig.1). That picture, traditionally considered to depict Granida, the heroine of P.C. Hooft's 1605 pastoral play of the same name, is now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. SK-A-4826). They are both oil on panel with a shaped top and are of almost identical measurements. Each of the women is sitting on a rock and set side by side the subjects face one another. At right background in the Rijksmuseum picture there is an arched opening through which an extensive landscape with figures can be seen. In the left background of the present picture, Judah walks away into an extensive landscape. Put together, the two would make a balanced, rather symmetrical pair. Van der Mijn depicts the moment from Genesis Chapter thirty-eight after Judah has had intercourse with his daughter-in-law Tamar, believing that she was a prostitute. He has left her with his signet ring, cords and staff, as security towards his promised payment of a goat in exchange for her favors. Tamar is shown holding her veil, which she had worn to disguise herself from her father-in-law, while Judah is seen in the background at left walking away. Heroman van der Mijn worked for aristocratic patrons throughout Europe: in Düsseldorf he (like Adriaaen van der Werff to whom this picture has in the past been given) worked for Johan Wilhelm, Elector Palatine; in London, van der Mijn worked for the English court; and in Holland, he worked for Prince William IV of Orange Nassau. We are grateful to Dr. Eddy Schavemaker for identifying this painting to be a work by Heroman van der Mijn, and for his assistance with this catalogue note.