Lot 107: Samuel van Hoogstraten (Dordrecht 1627-1678)

Samuel van Hoogstraten (Dordrecht 1627-1678)
Portrait of Count Ferdinand von Werdenberg (d. 1666), full-length, in a red coat with an embroidered sash, a Brittany spaniel at his side
signed and dated 'SvHoogstraten 1652' (lower right) and inscribed 'VV' (lower left, on the dog's collar)
with the coat-of-arms of the Werdenberg family (centre right, on the column)
oil on canvas
71¼ x 47¾ in. (181 x 121.3 cm.)

W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, Landau in der Pfalz, 1983, VI, pp. 3715 and 3897, no. 2301, ill., as 'Das Hauptwerk unter den Porträts des Künstlers'.
M.R. Abbing with P. Thissen, De schilder & schrijver Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1627-1678: Eigentijdse bronnen & oeuvre van gesigneerde schilderijen, Leiden, 1993, pp. 44 and 109, fig. 10.
C. Brusati, Artifice and Illusion: The Art and Writing of Samuel van Hoogstraten, Chicago and London, 1995, pp. 58, 283n.22 and 349, no. 14, fig. 36, pl. 12.

Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 31 May 1990, lot 126 ($220,000 to the present owner).

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One of Rembrandt's better-known pupils, Samuel van Hoogstraten pays tribute to his master with this portrait, the pose and illumination of which are derived directly from that of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, the central figure in Rembrandt's Night Watch, painted in 1642 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum). The Night Watch also forms the subject of the most celebrated passage of Hoogstraten's important art-theoretical treatise, Inleyding tot de hooge schoole der schilderkonst, anders de zichtbaere werelt (1678).

Count Ferdinand von Werdenberg was the only son of Johann Baptista (d. 1648), an important member of the Imperial Court who was made 1st Count von Werdenberg by Ferdinand II von Habsburg in 1630. He took over many of his father's functions at the Court of Ferdinand III, and was married three times, respectively to Susanna von Püchheim, Cäcilia von Wallenstein and a Countess von Herberstein (see J. H. Zedler, Grosses vollständiges Universallexicon aller Wissenschaften und Künste, Halle and Leipzig, 1731-1753, LV, pp. 262-263).

The Werdenberg coat-of-arms bears in each of the two Habsburg eagles the 'F' of the Emperor Ferdinand; the escutcheon with the gonfalon (medieval banner) in the centre represents the original coat-of-arms of the (Swiss) Werdenberg family, granted by the Emperor in 1630. The Gold Key (Kammerherrenschlussel) hanging from the sitter's waist symbolises the office of Chamberlain (Kammerherr) to the Emperor; and the 'VV' for Werdenberg is clearly printed on the dog's collar. We are grateful to Jan van Helmont for confirming the the identification of the arms.