1.2 Gustav II Adolf
1
Jacob van Doort
Miniature portrait of Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden (1594-1632), dated 1629
Hillerød, The National Museum of History Frederiksborg Castle, inv./cat.nr. A 2685
2
attributed to Cornelius Arendtz after Jacob van Doort
Portrait of Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, c. 1630
Whereabouts unknown
Towards 1629 Jacob van Doort (died 1629) came over from Denmark to paint several portraits.1 That year he portrayed Gustav II Adolf (ruled 1611-1632) (Frederiksborg, Romrod) [1-2].2 Pieter Isaacsz (1568-1625) would also have been most welcome in Stockholm, but he died prematurely in 1625. In 1620 State Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna was still able to purchase a few Dutch paintings from him, not to mention that he abused the artist by having him spy on Denmark.3 In 1636 his son Isaac Isaacsz (1598-1649) painted a posthumous portrait of Gustav II Adolf, which did not require him to go to Sweden [3].4
Jacob Henrik Elbfas (c.1600-1664) joined ‘the artistic legacy’ of Jacob van Doort. That is to say that the somewhat timid and diminutive Dutch portrait style found its continuation in this Livonian artist.5 He painted Gustav II Adolf [4] and other heroes of the Thirty Years’ War in stereotypical layout and arrangement reminiscent of full-length mannerist pictures of the time of Ketel. Other portraits are fresher and look similar to those of his Dutch contemporaries, an example being the Portrait of Hendrik Klasson Fleming (1584-1650) (Gripsholm) [5], but in general he is not able to introduce much variation to his work. Nevertheless, one can still consider Elbfas to be one of the Dutch-oriented painters of his time. He was also highly productive, and the unknown painters of his immediate surroundings were taken by this Dutch spirit [6].6
3
Isaac Isaacsz.
Portrait of Gustav II Adolf (1594-1632), King of Sweden, 1640s
Harderwijk (place, Gelderland), Raadhuis Harderwijk
4
Jacob Henrik Elbfas
Portrait of Gustav II Adolf (1594-1632), King of Sweden, c. 1630
Uppsala (province), Skoklosters slott, inv./cat.nr. 535
5
Jacob Henrik Elbfas
Portrait of Henrik Klasson Fleming (1584-1650), dated 1631
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, inv./cat.nr. NMGrh 1601
6
Monogrammist I.L.
Portrait of Johannes Bureus (1568-1652), dated 1627
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum inv./cat.nr. NMGrh 955
7
Matthäus Merian (II)
Portrait of Field Marshal Count Hans Christoffer von Königsmarck (1600-1663), dated 1651
Uppsala (province), Skoklosters slott
Of course, the times of war Sweden went through were not conducive to the flowering of the arts at the court in Stockholm. In addition, Gustav II Adolf, as supreme commander, was often abroad and unable to concern himself with cultural matters back home. Yet it was precisely the military campaigns that brought a great deal of art works to Sweden. In Germany, Gustav II Adolf ‘conquered’ mainly German paintings and had them sent to Sweden. His generals, and especially those among them who would later on serve Queen Christina (1626-1689), brought many treasures with them from all over Europe. In 1648 General Hans Christoff von Königsmarck (1660-1663) [7] captured the imperial fortress of Prague and saw to it that the beautiful collection of pictures and preciosities of Rudolf II was transported to Stockholm. However, the booty did not include many Dutch pictures.7
Dutch artists repeatedly painted Gustav II Adolf’s portrait and celebrated his battles. However, the works by Paulus van Hillegaert I (1595/6-1640) [8], Jan Martens de Jonge (1610-after 1647) [9] and Isaac Isaacsz [3], which were created after the king’s death, have no iconographic significance.8 A beautiful portrait of Mierevelt, engraved by Willem Jacobsz Delff (1580-1638) in 1633 is not rendered ‘naer het leven’ (‘after real life’) [10].9 Jacob van Doort’s (died 1629) miniature portrait instead creates the impression of having been painted by an eye-witness. It is the only surviving item of various miniature and wax portraits that were paid for according to an account of 1629 [1].
We further owe important portraits of the king to Jacob Hoefnagel (1573-1632/3), another Dutchman.10 He had settled in the town of Göteborg, which had been founded by the Dutch, where he played a significant role between 1622 and 1626. We are probably also indebted to him for one of the best and most lively Gustav II Adolf portraits, dated 1624 (collection A. Pauli, Stockholm) [11]. It is in any case free of any mannerist formula and painted with a realism that was not to be found outside the Netherlands in those years.11
8
Paulus van Hillegaert (I)
Equestrian portrait of Gustav II Adolf (1594-1632), King of Sweden, c. 1630-1640
Sweden, private collection baroness M. Bohnstedt
9
Jan Martens de Jonge
King Gustav II Adolf fighting in a battle from the 30-years war, dated 1634
Stockholm, Kungliga Husgerådskammaren
10
Willem Jacobsz. Delff after Michiel van Mierevelt
Portrait of Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden (1611-1632), dated 1633
London (England), British Museum, inv./cat.nr. 461246001
11
attributed to Jacob Hoefnagel
Portrait of Gustav II Adolf (1594-1632), King of Sweden, c. 1624
Stockholm, Livrustkammaren, inv./cat.nr. 24338 (86:15)
Notes
1 [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] Van Doort came from Hamburg to Stockholm, not from Denmark. He is recorded several times in the accounts of the Gottorf court in 1626, 1627 and 1628, but apparently he went up and down from Hamburg to Gottorf. In 1628 he was in Gottorf for 33 days, until 12 March, when he was brought back to Hamburg by a coachdriver, with his equipment and an apprentice (Schmidt 1917, p. 83-84).
2 [Gerson 1942/1983] The miniature in Frederiksborg is neither signed nor dated. However, the attribution to the painter is highly probable, as the 1629 authorizations of payment to the artist on the part of the court have survived. The picture in Romrod, Hessen is a copy by Cornelis Arendts. See Steneberg 1934A. [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] Actually, Van Doort’s miniature in Frederiksborg is dated ‘1629’ to the left. The whereabouts of the painting mentioned by Gerson as in Romrod (fig. 2) is unknown. Archduke Ernst Ludwig von Hessen-Darmstadt passed away in 1937. Romrod castle was handed over to the 'People's government' of Hessen. After World War II it served for many years as a shelter for refugees.
3 [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] On the fact that Pieter Isaacsz ‘was wanted in Stockholm’ or rather was in search of another mighty patron: Noldus 2007, p. 159-163, esp. p. 162-163. One of these paintings was probably the portraitChristian IV's wife, Anna Catharina, in the collection of Tidö Castle, that at the time was in the possession of Axel Oxenstierna (Roding/Stompé 1997, p. 62); Noldus 2007, p. 159-163.
4 [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] The portrait Gerson refers to is listed in Stavenow/Schück 1932, no. 79, signed and dated 'Isaac Isaacsen A:o 1636', 106 x 134 cm (Royal Collection Sweden). We were unable to retrieve an image. Isaac Isaacz’s portrait of Gustav II Adolf in the town hall of Harderwijk is dated 164[..]. See Kempers 1922, p. 30, ill.
5 [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] Gerson's observation that Van Doort's style would be 'Dutch' is outdated and inaccurate. The painter is believed to be of Southern Netherlandish descent, but his style seems more likely to have German roots.
6 [Gerson 1942/1983] Strömbom 1924, p. 212. A portrait of Johannes Bureus by the Monogrammist I.L. (Gripsholm) belongs to this circle. [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] RKDimages 250567.
7 [Gerson 1942/1983] Compare Zimmermann 1905, Granberg 1902; Granberg 1929-1932, vol. 1 (1929), p. 163. Rudolph II owned various pictures by Roelant Savery, Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, David Vinckboons I and Cornelis Hendriksz. Vroom. [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] The war booty also featured works by several Southern Netherlandish artists, including Pieter Aertsen, Pieter Breughel II, Joachim Beuckelaer, Frans Floris, Frans Francken, Jan Sanders van Hemessen, Jan Massys, Petrus Stevens, Otto van Veen and Martin de Vos. Queen Christina left most of these artworks in Sweden when she went to Rome. Many of them were transferred to the Nationalmuseum, in the 1860s, see Bjurström 1966, p. 505-528.
8 [Gerson 1942/1983] Stavenow/Schück 1932, nos. 73 (ill.), 76-77 (ill.), 79; Granberg 1911-1913, vol. 1 (1911), p. 29, nos. 113-114.
9 [Gerson 1942/1983] Mierevelt also made a portrait of State Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna when the latter visited the Dutch Republic in 1635 (Gripsholm). Bredius 1908, p. 10. [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] For the copy Gerson refers to in Gripsholm, see RKDimages 250584. It possibly concerned the prototype for the engraving by Delff: RKDimages 311545.
10 [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] In 1986 a private owner donated the portrait to the Royal Armoury (Livrustkammaren) in Stockholm, inv./cat.nr. 24338 (86:15). Actually, Jacob Hoefnagel was not Dutch, but Flemish. He was born in Antwerp and active e.g. in Germany, Vienna and Prague; he only lived shortly in the Dutch Republic as a representative of the Bohemian Estates to the States General. Simon Frisius (c. 1580-1628) accused him (probably wrongly) of misappropriation of funds of the Bohemian estates for Bohemia, after which Hoefnagel fled to Sweden (Vignau-Wilberg 2017, p. 467).
11 [Gerson 1942/1983] Fig. 5 in Steneberg 1935/1938, which should also be consulted in connection to all the Swedish portraitists mentioned above; compare also Stavenov/Schück 1932, no. 65. [Van Leeuwen/Roding 2024] In Göteborg, Jacob Hoefnagel was councellor in 1622-1626, in 1622-1624 president of the court of justice and burgomaster in 1624 (Steneberg 1932, Steneberg 1934). Hoefnagel owned – until 1626 – five rather big plpts in the area Högvagten which were used as pleasure and vegetable gardens (Bramstång Plura 2011, p. 5-6). In Sweden, Hoefnagel also produced a portrait of Queen Maria Eleonora, of which en engraving by Hendrick Hondius I survived (RKDimages 311570); see also Steneberg 1944.