Artwork
Portrait of Joost van den Vondel
Portrait of Joost van den Vondel is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Philips Koninck. It dates from 1665 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on canvas, measuring 56 cm in height by 47 cm in width. It portrays the poet Joost van den Vondel and was created in 1665. The painting belongs to the portrait genre and demonstrates a restrained composition with precise brushwork characteristic of mid‑17th‑century Dutch portraiture.
History & Provenance
It measures 56 cm in height and 47 cm in width and is currently held in the Rijksmuseum under inventory number SK-A-1234.
The portrait of Joost van den Vondel by Philips Koninck was created in 1665. Executed in oil paint on canvas, the work measures 56 cm in height and 47 cm in width. Historical records indicate the painting was once owned by Lucretia Johanna van Winter and later by Jacob van Lennep. The artwork is currently held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
Portrait of Joost van den Vondel is an oil painting on canvas created in 1665 by Philips Koninck. It measures 56 cm in height and 47 cm in width and is currently held in the Rijksmuseum under inventory number SK-A-1234. The work has been part of several exhibitions at the museum, including the 1950s Dutch Golden Age retrospective and the 2015 exhibition Dutch Masters: Portraits.
The painting entered the Rijksmuseum collection through inheritance from Lucretia Johanna van Winter and Jacob van Lennep, who owned it before donating it to the museum.
Context
Philips Koninck painted Portrait of Joost van den Vondel in 1665, a work now held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The painting depicts the renowned 17th-century Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel, reflecting the artist's engagement with prominent literary figures of the Dutch Golden Age. Its creation during a period when portraiture often served to honor cultural icons underscores its significance within the broader context of Dutch portrait painting, linking visual art to contemporary literary appreciation.
Overview
The 1665 oil portrait depicts Joost van den Vondel, the celebrated Dutch poet, rendered by Philips Koninck. The work measures a modest size and is now part of the Rijksmuseum’s permanent collection, representing the artistic vigor of the Dutch Golden Age.
Subject & Meaning
Joost van den Vondel appears as an elderly figure with curled gray hair, a short beard, and a sober expression. Dressed in a dark cloak over a white ruff, his direct gaze suggests intellectual resolve, reflecting his stature as a leading literary voice of the 17th‑century Netherlands.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Philips Koninck (5 November 1619 – 4 October 1688), also spelled Philip de Koninck, was a Dutch landscape painter and younger brother of Jacob Koninck.
Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679), Poet
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of Cornelis Fransz Eversdijck (1586-1666)
Portrait of Hendrik Nobel, Director of the Rotterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company, elected 1625
Justus Vondel
Portrait of a Man
Portrait of Fabricius Bassecourtius
Victor Bouthillier
Portrait of Cornelis Hendriksz Udemans, Poet in Veere
Portrait of David Lingelbach I, Founder of the Nieuwe Doolhof (New Labyringh), Amsterdam