JOHANN SPILBERG THE YOUNGER (Düsseldorf 1619 – Düsseldorf 1690)
Portrait of a Gentleman
Signed Joh. Spilberg and dated 1649 in the lower right; inscribed Aetatis 33
in the upper right
oil on canvas
46.9 x 38.4 inches (119 x 97.5 cm.)
EXHIBITED
TEFAF Maastricht, March 2016 with Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam
LITERATURE
“Tefaf Collecties” in Tableau, Amsterdam, no. 38, 2016, p. 63, illustrated
Spilberg began his studies with his father Johann Spilberg the Elder. In 1640 on the recommendation of Wolfgang Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg, Count Palantine of Neuburg he was sent to Antwerp to study with Rubens. Unfortunately by the time Spilberg reached Antwerp Rubens had died. He then traveled to Amsterdam where he became a pupil of Govert Flinck.[1]
Our portrait of a gentleman reflects Flinck’s style at this time. Dressed in the cutting edge of fashion for 1649, a young man wearing a tall hat is viewed in an interior. “As usual in Dutch dress of this period, the overall impression is one of understated luxury.”[2] In all black with a square linen collar and striated linen cuffs, one arm is wrapped in a black cape which was a common accessory of the time. The cloth covered table on which his right hand rests recalls sixteenth century royal portraiture that displayed tables laden with objects bearing dynastic associations. The gloves are also emblematic of the sitter’s wealth and status.[3]
By 1661 Spilberg had returned to Düsseldorf where he would remain for the rest of his life as the court painter to the Count Palatine of Neuburg and later his son Philipp Wilhelm. Paintings by the artist formed part of the permanent collections of the museums in Amsterdam, Berlin, Darmstadt, Düsseldorf, Munich, Naples, Utrecht, Vienna, and Vlissingen among others.
[1] Biographical information taken from “Johann Spilberg II” on rkd.nl (RKD Explore) website.
[2] Walter Liedtke, “Johannes Verspronck” in Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Press, New Haven, volume II, 2007, p. 908.
[3] Leticia Ruiz Gómez, “Court Portraits in the Spanish Monarchy (1530 – 1660)” in The Spanish Portrait from El Greco to Picasso, Museo National del Prado, 2004, p. 166.