VOC Senior Merchant with his Wife and an Enslaved Servant, Aelbert Cuyp (circle of), c. 1650 - c. 1655 – (Aelbert Jacobsz Cuyp) ◄ voorgaand Volgende ►

Artiest: Aelbert Jacobsz Cuyp

Tatum: 1655

Trootte: 137 x 207 cm

Techniek: Oil On Canvas

A Dutch couple accompanied by a native Indonesian holding a pajong above their heads are standing under an orange tree by the roads of Batavia (present-day Jakarta). The man is pointing his cane at the fleet about to set sail for Europe, and in the background is the city itself. This painting was probably already in the Nationale Konst-Gallery in 1808,15 but it then disappeared to England. It was thought to be a depiction of Jan Pietersz Coen, who founded Batavia and served two terms as governor-general of the Dutch East Indies between 1618 and 1629.16 It was later renamed as a portrait of Pieter Both, the first to hold this post.17 Both identifications are wrong, but it is not entirely clear who these people actually are. There are several ships in the roads with their names written on the stern. On the far left are the Salamander and the Rotterdam, and in the right foreground are the Prins Hendrik, Banda and Sûtveen (Zutphen). With the exception of the Rotterdam all these vessels (together with the Leeuwarden and Middelburg) belonged to the fleet that sailed from Batavia on 1 December 1640.18 This led Hofstede de Groot to conclude that the man is Commander Barent Pietersz Grootenbroek of Hoorn,19 accompanied by his wife, Aeltjen Jans of Bremen, a widow whom he married in Batavia in April 1634.20 However, that proposition is problematic, because Grootenbroek died on the return voyage. It has been suggested that it could be a posthumous portrait, but in 1955 Van Luttervelt came up with another idea that has not been contested, and that is that Grootenbroek’s successor Jacob Mathieusen is shown here.21 However, this identification also raises questions. Mathieusen only took over command of the fleet after the Cape of Good Hope, so his presentation here as the ranking officer in Batavia would have been decidedly arrogant and premature. And why, come to that, is he depicted with his wife?22 The view of Batavia is related to the one in an engraving of 1652 after a design from the studio of Johannes Vingboons.23 It can be assumed that the artist of the Rijksmuseum painting worked from this or a similar print. The figures’ attire is typically Dutch and dates from around 1650, in other words almost a decade after the fleet set sail for home.24 This is indicated by the square toes of the man’s shoes, his hat and small collar, and the widow’s peak cap, neckerchief and bodice. Their accessories lend an exotic touch to the costume: his rattan cane, the ropes of pearls around her neck, wrists and even the bun of her hair, the feather fan and the amber pendant hanging from her belt. Their native escort carrying the pajong and wearing Dutch dress was a customary sign of status in Batavia. It was probably a fairly widespread practice, despite the authorities’ efforts to restrict it to the governing elite.25 Erlend de Groot, 2022 See Key to abbreviations, Rijksmuseum painting catalogues and Acknowledgements