Attributed to franz kessler (wetzlar circa 1580 - circa 1650 danzig)
portrait of johann von bodeck (1589-1650)
dated: ao 1625
oil on canvas
109 x 91 cm.;42⅞ x 35⅞ in. Provenance
family van reede van ter aa, utrecht;
thence by descent to jonkheer and mrs van heemskerck van beest-baroness van reede van ter aa, the hague, by 1928;
thence by descent. Note
franz kessler was a student of gortzius geldorp and spent most of his career in cologne, where he made a living painting portraits of the wealthy citizens of cologne and neighboring cities. Many of kessler's portraits date to the 1620s, and, like the present, are usually dated and inscribed with the sitter's age and occasionally with the monogram or shield of the sitter's family. An ancestor of prince claus of the netherlands, johann von bodeck, came from a wealthy merchant family located in frankfurt-am-main and lubeck. They traded on the levant and provided financial loans to local cities and governments as well. In 1617 he married susanna van uffelen, a daughter of a prosperous german-dutch trading family originally from hamburg; the van uffelen family traded in commodities such as indigo, cinnamon and ginger, especially from the iberian peninsula and were well-travelled. These portraits, one of which is dated 1617, were probably commissioned following the couple's marriage, which took place in that same year in utrecht. Date: 1625.
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