RKD STUDIES

In the following pages we must turn back to some artists whom we already met in the Schleswig-Holstein area, which was politically part of Denmark.¹ It is therefore hardly surprising that we encounter the same artists at the courts of Gottorf and Copenhagen. Rembrandt’s influence became momentarily stronger, but – and this is characteristic of artists working on the periphery of the Dutch sphere of influence – they did not swear by Rembrandt alone to blindly pass by other Dutch or foreign manners. For many artists this reality explains their erratic development and amateurish mixing and imitation of all kinds of incompatible art forms. In addition, Dutch art of the borderlands lacks the kind of wide stream of production in which lesser talents can swim along and be saved from the worst excesses

Hendrik Oldeland (1615-1656)² was a courtier and amateur painter. He twice went on journeys to the Dutch Republic and Italy. When he was registered at the University of Leiden in 1634, he developed an urge to paint. An etching of 1650 [1640, ed.] [1] shows the influence of Rembrandt in its conception and a connection to Haarlem artists, such as Suyderhoef, in its technique. Oldeland also copied an engraving by Lucas van Leyden [2]. In Vienna there is a fetching drawn Self-Portrait of 1643 [3].

1
Hendrik Oldelandt
Old man in an armchair, dated 1640

As we have seen, Wolfgang Heimbach (1613/1616-after 1678) studied in the Netherlands and Italy. His models were Honthorst, the guardroom painters of the time, Pieter de Hooch as well as early Rembrandt compositions. In Denmark, where he worked from 1653 to 1656 and to which he returned in 1667, he painted mainly dry portraits [4-5] and colorful genre pictures [6-7] which do not belong to the best of his work.³ He further showed himself to be a good citizen, for when the Oldenburg Land was united with Denmark in 1667 [1660, ed.], he painted a picture of the oath of allegiance, which includes a self-portrait (Rosenborg Castle) [8].⁴ It is not a masterpiece of perspective, especially when one considers what Jan van der Heyden or the Berckheydes achieved at the time.

We observe the same mixture of Dutch guardroom painting and influences of the Rembrandt School in the small surviving oeuvre of Thomas Mathisen of Husum.⁵ Such guardroom pictures are found in the Copenhagen Museum [9-10], and Fredensborg Castle has a copy, ostensibly dated 1643 , after Rembrandt’s (?) Leningrad painting, Young and old woman in front of a mirror (HdG 310) [11-12].⁶ In 1674 Mathisen was a member of the Bent in Rome, but nothing is known about any stay in The Dutch Republic.⁷ Karel van Mander probably introduced him to the Rembrandt style, which clearly shows up in another picture in Fredensborg (Old man reading, signed) [13]. This manner is a little less pronounced in The Barn (same location) [14], which is reminiscent of Hendrick Martensz. Sorgh and Cornelis Saftleven.

8
Wolfgang Heimbach
Paying homage to the Hereditary King in front of the Castle of Copenhagen, 18th October, 1660, dated 1666
Copenhagen, The Royal Danish Collection - Rosenborg Castle, inv./cat.nr. 7.100

Broder Matthisen (died in Husum in 1666) was until 1661 court painter and building inspector at the Gottorf court, even though he also became court painter in Berlin in 1659. He also supplied the Danish King with paintings, and a weak portrait by his hand is preserved in Frederiksborg (no. 985) [15-16].⁸ The still lifes in Dresden and Schwerin, of which we have spoken [in the chapter on Germany, ed.], vouch for his Dutch schooling [17-18].

Bernhard Keil (1624-1687), a Rembrandt student from Helsingør, never became of importance for Denmark, as he ended his life as a good Catholic in Rome, before which he had spent for eight years as one of Rembrandt’s students in Amsterdam. He was introduced to the fundaments of Dutch art by Morten van Steenwinckel in Copenhagen, but his stay in Italy appears to have wiped out all traces of Dutch schooling, so that Italian scholarship now gives the only surviving picture in Denmark, Evening visit to a sculptor, to an unknown Caravaggio follower [19].⁹

17
Broder Matthisen
Vanitas still life with unfolded books, musical instruments, precious vessels and a globe, c. 1664
Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden - Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, inv./cat.nr. 1996 A

Heinrich Jansen (1625-1667), who came from Flensburg, was a Rembrandt student for three years (from 1654 to 1658) and visited the Dutch Republic once more when he undertook a great journey to Spain and Italy. From 1657 to 1661 he was court painter to Frederick III in Copenhagen. He spent the rest of his life in Flensburg.¹⁰ He repeatedly copied pictures by Rembrandt, especially his early works, such as the Christ in the Garden and the Presentation in the Temple, both in Copenhagen [20-21].¹¹ A signed drawing of The Healing of Tobias, discovered by K.E. Simon, has ended up in the Copenhagen print cabinet [22]. It is more reminiscent of Bramer, Moeyaert and contemporary mannerists than of any early work by Rembrandt.

20
Heinrich Jansen after Rembrandt
The risen Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene, c. 1645-1649
Copenhagen, SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, inv./cat.nr. KMS1523

We have already spoken in detail about Jürgen Ovens (1623-1678).¹² He was likewise a Rembrandt student in the forties, but his nimble nature looked to Flemish inspiration for his portraits and biblical compositions. He played a significant role in Gottorf. He also accompanied Princes Hedvig Eleonora as her court painter to her wedding in Stockholm [23]. In the 1650s, while Frederick III lingered in Flensburg, Ovens painted some scenes from Danish history for the Copenhagen court, which are today preserved in Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen [24-33],¹³ and, predictably, several portraits.¹⁴ The pictures of this time are good examples of his Rembrandtesque manner.

His student, Magnus Jørgensen (active 1683-1719), who hailed from Randers, painted several allegories (Fredensborg, Randers, Lund) in which one can still discern a little of Ovens’ teaching [34-36].

23
Jürgen Ovens
The marriage of princess Hedwig Eleonore of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf with the Swedish king Charles X Gustav on 24 October 1654, c. 1655-1657
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, inv./cat.nr. NM 908

Horatius Paulijn (c. 1644-in or after 1682) intended to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Jan Rote, but the journey came to a premature end in Hamburg. Paulijn appears to have worked in, or at least for, Denmark, as is indicated by a portrait of Sophie Amalia Moth [37].¹⁵ We repeatedly encounter paintings by Paulijn in Danish auction catalogues and old collections, but secure attributions remain rarities even today (collection Belgioso, Milan) [38].¹⁶

Abraham van der Hecken also had Danish clients. In 1653 Joachim Beck, who came from ‘Güstrow in the realm of Denmark’, had himself portrayed by Van der Hecken, and that in two versions, once simple and unexceptional and the second with accessories and frame for 168 Rijcxdaelders [420 guilders].¹⁷

37
Horatius Paulijn
Portrait of Sophia Amalia Moth (1654-1719), Countess of Samsø, mistress of King Christian V of Denmark, dated 1682
Haslev, Gisselfeld Kloster, inv./cat.nr. 50 (cat. 1918)

38
Horatius Paulijn
Lute player in an interior, c. 1670-1680
Milan, Castello Sforzesco, inv./cat.nr. 1318