Artwork
Family portrait of Gozewijn Centen

Family portrait of Gozewijn Centen is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Krzysztof Lubieniecki. It dates from 1721 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting is a family portrait depicting a woman, a man, and a child, as recorded in its cataloguing data.
The painting is a family portrait depicting a woman, a man, and a child, as recorded in its cataloguing data. Produced in 1721 by Krzysztof Lubieniecki, the work belongs to the genre of family portraiture, a format in early eighteenth-century Dutch painting that typically served to commemorate kinship ties, marital union, and lineage across generations.
The inclusion of a child alongside the adult couple is iconographically significant, signaling continuity of the family line and the domestic bonds uniting the sitters. The household of Gozewijn Centen, a prominent Amsterdam merchant and regent, lent the commission particular social weight, situating the image within the tradition of patrician family representation in the Dutch Republic.
Held today in the Rijpenhofje collection of the Rijksmuseum, the portrait functions both as a personal record of the Centen family and as a statement of status and continuity typical of elite Dutch group portraiture of the period.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting on canvas measuring 94.5 cm by 161.5 cm, created in 1721. It portrays a woman, man, and child in a domestic grouping typical of 18th‑century family portraiture. The brushwork exhibits the fine detail and muted tonal modeling characteristic of Krzysztof Lubieniecki’s style, while the composition balances intimate narrative with formal arrangement, reflecting the conventions of Dutch portraiture of the period.
History & Provenance
The work was painted by Krzysztof Lubieniecki in 1721, as indicated by the artist’s date on the canvas and corroborated by its Wikidata entry.
It entered the collection of the Rijpenhofje and is now held by the Rijksmuseum. The painting’s dimensions are 94.5 cm in height and 161.5 cm in width.
The painting is held at the Rijpenhofje, a location associated with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The work is attributed to Krzysztof Lubieniecki and dates to 1721. No specific inventory or accession number is provided in the available records, nor is there any documented exhibition history for the piece.
The artwork, executed in oil on canvas, measures 94.5 cm in height and 161.5 cm in width. It depicts a family group consisting of a man, a woman, and a child.
Context
The painting Family portrait of Gozewijn Centen was created by Krzysztof Lubieniecki in 1721 as an oil on canvas work measuring 94.5 cm by 161.5 cm. It belongs to the portrait genre and depicts a family group consisting of a woman, a man, and a child. The artwork is part of the Rijpenhofje collection housed at the Rijksmuseum, reflecting early 18th-century Dutch portraiture traditions within the broader context of family representation in Dutch Golden Age art.
Scholarly attention to this piece remains limited, with no major critical assessments documented in accessible sources. Its placement within Lubieniecki’s oeuvre contributes to understanding the evolution of family portraiture in the Netherlands during the late Baroque period, particularly in relation to middle-class domestic subjects and civic identity in Amsterdam.
The work’s provenance and material details align with contemporaneous Dutch portrait practices, emphasizing realism and familial cohesion. Its inclusion in a municipal almshouse setting underscores social dimensions of art patronage in early modern Amsterdam, situating it within discussions of genre, patronage, and civic culture in Dutch art history.
Overview
Created in 1721, this oil painting by Krzysztof Lubieniecki portrays a family of four in an outdoor setting. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and exemplifies the refined elegance associated with the Rococo period, while retaining the compositional rigor of the Baroque tradition.
Artist & collection
Artist
Krzysztof Lubieniecki or Christoffel Lubienietzky (1659–1729) was a Polish Baroque painter and engraver active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age.












