Officers and other civic guardsmen of the XIth District of Amsterdam, under the command of Captain Geurt Dircksz van Beuningen and Lieutenant Pieter Martensz Hoeffijser, Jan Tengnagel, 1613 – (Jan Tengnagel) ◄ prijašnji Sljedeći ►

Umjetnik: Jan Tengnagel

Datum: 1613

Veličina: 153 x 265 cm

Tehnika: Oil On Canvas

This portrait of 17 banqueting guardsmen from District XI was the only one produced for the Handboogdoelen, the headquarters of the archers’ civic guard, during the Twelve Years’ Truce (1609-21).4 Dated 1613, it is one of two civic guard pieces painted by Tengnagel. The other one, also executed for the Handboogdoelen about ten years later, has not survived.5 Around 1660, the four governors of the Handboogdoelen had Jacob Colijns (c. 1614/15-86) make drawings after all the portraits in their building, with inscriptions recording the names of the sitters.6 The identities of the guardsmen in the present painting are known thanks to the inscription on Colijns’s drawing after it (fig. a).7 The captain, Geurt Dircksz van Beuningen (1564-1633), is seated beside the table on the left, next to the very young ensign, Claes Bisschop (b. 5 December 1593). Like some of the other men, Van Beuningen wears an ornamental cuirass, but he is the only one shown wearing a hat. A prominent figure in Amsterdam, he was one of the founders of the Dutch East India Company, and a leader of the Remonstrants.8 Service in the civic guard was a prerequisite for future political power. When the painting was completed in 1613, Van Beuningen had already achieved the rank of colonel. In 1622, he obtained a seat on the city council and was first elected burgomaster in 1628. Van Beuningen lived in St Anthonisbreestraat (no. 57), close to District XI. The other guardsmen in the portrait, whose addresses could be traced, lived in the district itself.9 Seated next to him at the table is the lieutenant, Pieter Martensz Hoeffijser (1581-1647), a wealthy banker, who was appointed General of the Admiralty of Amsterdam in December 1613.10 He lived in St Anthonisbreestraat (no. 3). As sergeant of the company, Tengnagel included his own portrait. He is the third from the right in the bottom row, holding a wine glass sideways to show that it is empty.11 Tengnagel lived near the St Anthonissluis, the lock situated at right angles to St Anthonisbreestraat.12 The man bending over and pointing at the cushion on a stool was another artist, Adriaen van Nieulandt (c. 1586-1658), who lived next to Lieutenant Hoeffijser in St Anthonisbreestraat (no. 5).13 Van Nieulandt and Hoeffijser lived across the street from the man on the far left in the top row, Hans van der Voort (St Anthonisbreestraat no. 2), a tailor by profession and brother of the artist Cornelis van der Voort. There was already a long tradition of portraying civic guard companies banqueting when Tengnagel executed this painting. The theme was introduced in Amsterdam civic guard portraiture by Cornelis Anthonisz in his 1533 Banquet of Seventeen Members of the Crossbowmen’s Civic Guard, known as The Banquet of the Copper Coin.14 In Tengnagel’s painting, gestures, glances and actions emphasize the camaraderie and unity of the group. The fourth man from the left in the top row, for example, has his hand on the shoulder of the man before him, and Lieutenant Hoeffijser’s hand is placed on the hand of the man cutting bread. An unusual but not altogether unique gesture in civic guard portraiture, Adriaen van Nieulandt’s pointing at the cushion, has been given two interpretations by scholars. Riegl explained it as an invitation to the ensign to take a seat at the banquet.15 Tümpel rejected this interpretation, pointing to the old Dutch saying ‘op het kussen zitten’ (to sit on the cushion), which means to take on an important, usually governmental or administrative position. Van Beuningen had been promoted colonel in 1612, and the post of captain was therefore vacant.16 However, as Dudok van Heel has since pointed out, Adriaen van Nieulandt’s gesture is probably directed at Claes Bisschop, whose youthful age (when the painting was completed he was 19 or 20) indicates that he has just been made the company’s ensign.17 Because Tengnagel’s painting does not include a portrait of Van Beuningen’s successor as captain, as could very well also be the case in a 1599 guard piece including an unoccupied chair by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem,18 Dudok van Heel’s explanation is the more plausible one. The rediscovery of Colijns’s reproductive drawing with the inscribed names of the sitters made it possible to identify the present portrait with the one listed by Gerard Schaep in 1653 in the Handboogdoelen showing Captain Van Beuningen and his men. Schaep recorded that Tengnagel had executed the painting. The attribution of the painting to Frans Badens that had been made before the rediscovery of Colijns’s drawing could, therefore, be laid to rest.19 The monumental, colourful figures shown close to the picture plane can be compared to those in some of Tengnagel’s history pieces, such as the 1615 Raising of Lazarus.20 The facial types, somewhat crude drapery style, and the emphasis on gestures are also similar. Jonathan Bikker, 2007 THE SITTERS, THEIR RANKS, OCCUPATIONS AND ADDRESSES Bottom row from left to right Claes Bissc../..