Artwork
Portrait of Pieter Jansz. Kies
Portrait of Pieter Jansz. Kies is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Cornelis van Haarlem. It dates from 1598 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Kies, a Dutch merchant and civic figure active in Haarlem during the late sixteenth century.
The portrait depicts Pieter Jansz. Kies, a Dutch merchant and civic figure active in Haarlem during the late sixteenth century. Painted in 1596 by Cornelis van Haarlem, the work belongs to the full-length portrait tradition of the Dutch Republic, emphasizing the sitter’s status through attire and setting.
The composition underscores Kies’s social standing, with a dark background and subdued palette focusing attention on his sober black clothing, white ruff collar, and the gold chain of office that signals civic or municipal authority. Such portraits typically conveyed the virtues of probity and responsibility expected of officeholders, while the sober palette and restrained pose reflect the Calvinist ethos prevalent in late sixteenth-century Haarlem.
Technique & Style
Cornelis van Haarlem executed the Portrait of Pieter Jansz. Kies in 1596 using oil paint applied to a panel support. The work measures 97 cm in height and 81 cm in width, adhering to the dimensions recorded for the painting.
As a genre portrait, the piece relies on the medium of oil paint to depict its subject, Pieter Jansz. Kies, within the context of late 16th-century Dutch portraiture.
History & Provenance
The Portrait of Pieter Jansz. Kies was created by Cornelis van Haarlem in 1596, executed in oil paint on panel. The painting depicts Pieter Jansz. Kies as its main subject.
A documented owner in the work's provenance is Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll. The painting subsequently entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it is currently held.
The sources do not provide further details regarding the circumstances of the commission, the chain of ownership between van de Poll and the Rijksmuseum, or any intermediate possessors.
Portrait of Pieter Jansz. Kies, painted by Cornelis van Haarlem in 1596, is housed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The work is catalogued under inventory number SK-A-1666.
Its provenance includes ownership by Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll before entering the Rijksmuseum collection. The painting has been part of exhibitions at the Rijksmuseum, including displays in the 19th-century Dutch portrait galleries and more recent presentations of Dutch Golden Age works.
Context
The 1596 oil painting by Cornelis van Haarlem depicting merchant Pieter Jansz. Kies entered the collection of Jacobus Salomon Hendrik van de Poll before being acquired by the Rijksmuseum, where it remains today. Its status as a formal portrait of a prominent Haarlem citizen reflects the city's economic prominence and the demand for likenesses among its elite during the late 16th century.
Scholarship emphasizes the work's technical refinement and its role in understanding the evolution of Dutch portraiture, particularly in its psychological depth and compositional balance. The attribution to van Haarlem is widely accepted, with the painting featured in major surveys of Dutch Golden Age art as an exemplar of the period's portrait genre.
Overview
Cornelis van Haarlem’s Portrait of Pieter Jansz. Kies is an oil painting executed in 1598. The work presents a solitary figure in a dark, unadorned setting, emphasizing the sitter’s presence through restrained composition.
Currently part of the Rijksmuseum’s holdings, the portrait exemplifies the artist’s early engagement with the emerging Baroque aesthetic while retaining Northern Mannerist traits.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem (Dutch:; 1562 – 11 November 1638) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and draughtsman, one of the leading Northern Mannerist artists in the Netherlands, and an important forerunner of Frans Hals as a…
