Artwork

Portrait of Antonides van der Linden (1570-1633), Amsterdam physician

Portrait of Antonides van der Linden (1570-1633), Amsterdam physician is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Hendrik Meerman. It dates from 1633 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

As a formal portrait, the work functions primarily as a likeness intended to record the sitter's appearance and professional status at the end of his life.

This 1633 oil painting on panel depicts Antonius Antonides van der Linden, a physician based in Amsterdam who lived from 1570 to 1633. As a formal portrait, the work functions primarily as a likeness intended to record the sitter's appearance and professional status at the end of his life. The composition focuses exclusively on the individual, serving as a visual document of his identity rather than employing complex allegorical symbolism or narrative elements.

Created in the year of his death, the piece stands as a commemorative representation of a specific medical practitioner within the context of seventeenth-century Dutch society.

Technique & Style

The painting is executed in oil on a single oak panel support, measuring 88 cm in height by 63 cm in width. The handling is restrained and linear, typical of early seventeenth-century Dutch portraiture, with careful delineation of the sitter’s features and costume. The composition is frontal, focusing attention on the physician’s face and starched white collar, rendered with smooth transitions and subtle modeling in light and shadow.

Stylistic qualities include a muted palette dominated by earth tones and restrained chroma, punctuated by the stark whiteness of the collar and the dark, glossy surface of the table at right. The brushwork remains largely invisible, consistent with a precise, descriptive approach rather than painterly bravura.

History & Provenance

The portrait of Antonides van der Linden, an Amsterdam physician, was created in 1633 by the artist Hendrik Meerman. Executed in oil paint on panel, the work measures 88 cm in height and 63 cm in width. The painting depicts Antonius Antonides van der Linden and dates to the year of the sitter's death.

Historical records indicate that the work was once owned by Victor de Stuers before entering the collections of the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam Museum.

Context

The portrait was created by Hendrik Meerman in 1633 as an oil painting on panel, depicting the Amsterdam physician Antonius van der Linden. It is housed in the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Museum collections, where it remains part of their holdings of 17th-century portraiture. Scholarship emphasizes its significance within the evolution of Dutch Golden Age portrait painting, reflecting both the status of medical professionals in the Republic and Meerman's role as a leading portraitist of his era.

Overview

Hendrik Meerman’s 1633 oil portrait presents the Amsterdam physician Antonides van Linden (1570–1633). The work, now part of the Rijksmuseum collection, captures the sitter in a formal, half‑length pose against a dark background, emphasizing his professional stature.