RKD STUDIES

Baldinucci was better informed about Florence,¹ where Cosimo de’ Medici III (1642-1723), who ruled from 1670 until his death, had compiled a small collection of Dutch pictures towards the end of the century. Cosimo had been to Holland twice as crown prince (in 1667 and 1669) and many artists seized the occasion to pay a courtesy call on this distinguished gentleman [1].² He instructed his Amsterdam agents, Giovacchino Guasconi (1635-1699),³ del Vigna and Francesco Feroni (1614-1696)⁴ to buy works of art and so ultimately many precious items made their way to Florence thanks to the good services of the Düsseldorf Elector, Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz (1658-1716), who was his son-in-law.⁵

Cosimo’s predecessors had been great art lovers, too, and it is more than likely that one or other of the Dutchmen returning home put their stopover in Florence to good use. Unfortunately, very little can be gleaned from the sources in this respect. The first artist we encounter is Jan Bijlevelt or Giovanni Biliverti (1585-1644) [2]⁶ from Maastricht who, as a pupil of Lodovico Cigoli, became completely Italianised and formed a stylistic community together with Cristoforo Allori and Matteo Rosselli. His father, Jaques Bijlevelt or Jacopo Biliverti (1550-1603) [3] was a respected goldsmith at the Medici court and recognised in his own right.⁷

1
Gerard ter Borch (II)
Portrait of a man in armour, probably Cosimo III de' Medici (1642-1723), second half 1660s
Deventer, Museum De Waag (Deventer)

A further indication of Gerard van Honthorst’s (1592-1656) renown is the interest Cosimo II (1590-1621, ruled 1609-1621) showed in his works. When the artist was still in Rome, where he certainly had no dearth of commissions, he received an order to paint for the Florentine prince. As a result, in 1620, Honthorst sent Company by Candelight [4] to Florence, where it still hangs today in the Uffizi Gallery.⁸ We learn from Mancini that Honthorst was working on a Birth of Christ the following year ‘in which the light radiating from the gentle Christ Child is caught by the Madonna and the two angels’ [5].⁹ This picture was also sent to Florence. The same year Honthorst left Rome, making a brief stop in Florence on his return journey home.¹⁰ The Guicciardini family commissioned him to produce a large Adoration of the Shepherds which used to be in the Guicciardini Chapel in Santa Felicità (now in the Uffizi Gallery) [6].¹¹ Mancini certainly has a point when he says that looking at the Little Adoration he feels reminded of Carracci and Caravaggio. Be that as it may, Caravaggio’s vigorous style has been toned down in the mild light and gentle modelling of his ‘pupil’, thereby making it more palatable to the taste of an aristocratic collector. Even after the artist returned to the north there was no lack of interest in his works at the Florentine court. When Ferdinand II heard in 1628 that six paintings by Honthorst were on offer in Rome, he immediately dispatched an emissary to enquire about the price and other conditions of purchase.¹²

4
Gerard van Honthorst
Merry Company with a Lute Player, c. 1619-1620
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1890, no. 730

The close affinity between various pre-Rembrandtists and their Florentine contemporaries in the Allori group indicates that they likewise stopped over in Florence on their return journey.¹³ Unfortunately there is no official documentation to prove it. Cornelis de Bie says that Leonaert Bramer was also in Florence and we learn from Joachim von Sandrart that Cornelis van Poelenburch (1594/5-1667) was in the employ of the Grand Duke of Florence.¹⁴ That must have been just after his departure from Rome, for Poelenburch mentions the etching skills of Jacques Callot who had himself left Florence that same year, 1622, after having worked there for a decade.¹⁵ The delightful little pictures that are now in Florence probably date from the time Poelenburch spent in the city [7-9].¹⁶

7
Cornelis van Poelenburch
Mozes striking the rock, c. 1617-1625
Florence, Palazzo Pitti, inv./cat.nr. 1220

The son of Cosimo II, Ferdinand II (1610-1670), had a predilection for Dutch still lifes. He was utterly fascinated by such supremely talented artists as Otto Marseus van Schrieck (1619/20-1678) [10-11]¹⁷ who had moved to Italy with Hendrik Graauw (c. 1627-1693)¹⁸ and Matthias Withoos (c. 1627-1703) (who could also paint still lifes in the style of Marseus). When Ferdinand’s son, the later Cosimo III, was in Holland in 1667, Marseus hastened to visit the son of his former patron in order to offer him some pictures. We do not know whether Cosimo bought any [12-13]. Willem van Aelst (1627-1683), ¹⁹ who was taught by Marseus and collaborated with him in Florence, likewise did not fail to pay a courtesy visit to the relative of such an important customer. Marseus’ special patron was the uncle of Cosimo III, the artistically inclined Cardinal Giovan Carlo de’ Medici (1611-1663) who at his death left no less than 14 Dutch still lifes.²⁰ Willem van Aelst and Marseus van Schrieck returned home in about 1657.²¹ Willem van Aelst’s stay in Italy swelled his ego to such an extent that he subsequently signed his works ‘Guill mo van Aelst’.²² The Pitti Gallery has two of his paintings, which Cosimo may have commissioned in Holland in 1668 [14-15].²³ Cosimo certainly brought back with him from his travels the two still lifes by Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606-1684) and Maria van Oosterwijck (1630-1693) (now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence) [16-17], whose works were also offered to him.²⁴ Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) still worked for the Florentine court in 1711. When Uffenbach visited her in Amsterdam, she was working on two pictures for the Grand Duke [18-19].²⁵

10
Otto Marseus van Schrieck
Forest floor still life with snake and butterflies, c. 1655
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1184 ( 1890)

11
Otto Marseus van Schrieck
Forest floor still life with lizard, butterflies, and a snail, c. 1655
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1262 ( 1890)

There was a constant need for Dutch portraitists at the courts and Florence was no exception. Teodor Lubieniecki (1654-1716/8) from Cracow, a pupil and imitator of Gerard de Lairesse, was called to Tuscany but left his position there in 1682 to work in Hanover – probably with good references from neighbouring Modena. Wilhelmina Amalia of Hanover was a sister of Charlotte Felicitas of Modena, with whom she resided for a long time. It was to such family ties that Jan Frans van Douven (1656-1727) owed his journey to Italy.²⁶ In 1697 Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, sent him to Modena and Florence, where he was commissioned to paint the portrait of the Grand Duke of Tuscany [20] for his daughter, Anna Maria Luisa (1667-1743),²⁷ who had married the ruler of the Palatinate [21]. On this or some other occasion he brought pictures from Germany with him, little paintings in keeping with contemporary taste, such as that of the Electoral couple in fancy-dress costume [22] ²⁸ and others of the Electoral Highnesses [23]²⁹ and, last but not least, by special request a self-portrait of the artist [24] (paintings in Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi Gallery). After the death of Elector Johann Wilhelm he painted his widow with her deceased husband on his deathbed at the back of the room [25]. Anna Maria Luisa took the picture back with her to Florence, where she spent the rest of her days.³⁰ Among the other portraitists we can record in Florence were Jacobus de Baen (1673-1700), whose father had already served Cosimo from Amsterdam,³¹ and Jan van Mieris (1660-1690) [26], who died in Rome when still a young man.³²

20
Jan Frans van Douven
Portrait of Cosimo III de' Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, 1697
Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, inv./cat.nr. M.Ob.793

Of less art historical interest are the silhouettists and embroiderers, although they too were an integral element of court art. During his journey to Holland, Cosimo engaged the services of Johannes van Achelom (c. 1640-after 1703),³³ who is referred to as Signor Giovanni in the 1668 service records of the Florentine court [27]. He was a past master at cutting silhouettes and, according to the references in old inventories, also seems to have painted biblical and allegorical scenes. Johanna Koerten (1650-1715) made a paper cut-out of Cosimo III (during his trip to Holland?), while the embroideress Rozée (1632-1682) sold the Grand Duke ‘een stuk van haar beste werk’ [a piece of her best work] for 500 guilders.³⁴ Thomas Halleman (c. 1665-in or after 1708) is said to have lived for ten to twelve years in Florence (working as a miniaturist?),³⁵ as did the engraver Theodor Vercruys (1671-1739), who was called Teodoro della Croce in Italy.³⁶ He worked in the Grand Duke’s gallery and made engravings not only of Flemish and Italian paintings but also of Rembrandt’s Man with His Hands Folded (Palazzo Pitti) [28].

During his sojourn in the Netherlands Cosimo III had endeavoured to acquire portraits of famous men, military commanders and naval heroes such as De Ruyter, Maerten Tromp [29],³⁷ Prince Willem III, Johan Maurits and outstanding scholars like Johann Graevius – works which even today are still scattered in the many corridors and portals of the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Pitti.³⁸ Nicolaes Heinsius (1620-1618) gave him the portrait of Sophia van Nassau painted by Pieter Nason (1612-1688/90) which must still be hidden away somewhere in Florence [30]. Cosimo’s collection of portraits would have been incomplete without the finest society ladies of The Hague. Cosimo expected portraits of both daughters of Admiral van Wassenaar-Obdam [31-32], the two daughters of Johan van Gent, Governor of Willem III, and other beauties; the portraits of the ladies de Lalaing, de Lahaut and van Grimberghen also had to be sent from Brussels. The Comte d’Estrades subsequently reported to Florence that ‘ les dames du Balet font faire leurs portrets pour les envoyer à V.A.S.‘.³⁹

27
Johannes van Achelom
The adoration of the shepherds in the stable, dated 1702
Private collection

28
Theodoor Vercruys after Francesco Petrucci after Rembrandt
Old man in an armchair
Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, inv./cat.nr. RP-P-1878-A-1752

It can be assumed that Jan de Baen (1633-1702) was commissioned to take portraits of the Dutch society ladies for Cosimo. He had already painted the Grand Duke during his stay in The Hague. On that occasion the artist had made him a gift of a self-portrait, for which he was granted the sum of 100 ducats. In Houbraken’s time this self-portrait was still in Florence.⁴⁰ The Grand Duke was particularly fond of artists’ self-portraits.⁴¹ As the years passed he embellished his collection with the portraits of Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670) [33], Eglon van der Neer (1635/6-1703) [34], Michiel van Musscher (1645-1705), Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711), Rembrandt, Philips Koninck (1619-1688) [35], Gerard Dou (1613-1675), Carel de Moor II (1655-1738), Frans van Mieris I (1635-1681) [36], Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722) [37], Gerard ter Borch II and Godfried Schalcken (1643-1706) [38].⁴² Cosimo III will undoubtedly have acquired some of them during his stay in Holland, such as the self-portraits of van der Helst and Koninck, which are dated 1667. It is evident from an exchange of letters that Cosimo preferred a certain type of portrayal: the artist holding a little painting in his hand, as is clear from the portraits of Adriaen van der Werff, Eglon van der Neer, Frans van Mieris and Bartholomeus van der Helst, for example. Other consignments from the Prince of Orange will have enlarged the collection between 1677 and 1684.⁴³

33
Bartholomeus van der Helst
Self portrait of Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670), dated 1667
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1890, no. 1683

Cosimo III also visited Rembrandt (1606-1669) during his trip to HollandHollHoHoll. Since the artist had nothing in his studio that was of interest to the Grand Duke, his guide Pieter Blaeu (1637-1706) took him to various patricians and collectors who owned works by Rembrandt.⁴⁴ Cosimo may have acquired one of the two Florentine self-portraits in the course of this journey (Hofstede de Groot no. 539) [39].⁴⁵ The other self-portrait dating to the 1660s (Hofstede de Groot no. 540) [40] had been purchased by Cardinal Leopold de’ Medici (1617-1675) during the painter’s lifetime and was described in the 1675 inventory of his estate. A third, late painting by Rembrandt Old Man with His Hands Folded (Hofstede de Groot no. 380) [41] must have been sent to Florence shortly after its completion. It was in the possession of Cosimo’s father, Ferdinand II, and was first listed in an inventory in 1698.⁴⁶ This splendid collection does not seem to have been accessible to many people. Even Filippo Baldinucci from Florence knew only one of the Rembrandt paintings it contained.

40
Rembrandt
Self Portrait, c. 1669
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 69.232

The work of the fijnschilders (fine painters) played a major role at the Medici court just as it did at every other 17th-century court. The agent Guasconi had to pay 800 guilders in Leiden in 1676 for Gerard Dou’s Self-Portrait (Hofstede de Groot no. 270) [42] after another one had slipped his grasp, the owner in Antwerp having quickly sold it to a French middleman.⁴⁷ Gradually paintings of different scenes came into the Grand Duke’s possession (Hofstede de Groot nos. 126, 150, 257) [43-45], all of them works with candlelight illumination which had been popular in Florence since Honthorst’s day. Cosimo was so interested in the artist that he visited Dou’s studio in Leiden.⁴⁸ Here Cosimo may well have acquired Pieter van Slingelandt’s Soap Bubbles painted in 1661 (Hofstede de Groot no. 123).⁴⁹

43
Pieter van Slingelandt
Children blowing bubbles, dated 1661
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1208

It can be assumed that he bought or at least ordered a series of genre paintings in the course of his travels. He possessed two superb paintings by Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667) (Hofstede de Groot nos. 147, 181) [46-47], as many as five by Caspar Netscher (1635/5-1684) (Hofstede de Groot nos. 22, 53 [from 1664], 63, 114 [from 1668], 462) [48-52]⁵⁰ and, in addition to the already mentioned self-portrait, five others by Godfried Schalcken (Hofstede de Groot nos. 40, 178, 194, 206, 220) [53-57].⁵¹

46
Gabriel Metsu
Woman tuning a cittern and a boy playing with a dog, c. 1657-1659
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1890, n. 1238

The Grand Duke was out of luck when it came to ter Borch, however. A small self-portrait was sent to him in 1676 but it was damaged on arrival and never seems to have been included in the collection. Cosimo would very much have liked to have a larger self-portrait, whose size, material (canvas), composition (the painter holding a little picture in his hand) and price he prescribed in exact terms, as was his wont. The artist painted the portrait to the specifications but insisted for too long on the high price he was asking for it. When he finally backed down, Florence was no longer interested.⁵² Hence all that can be seen in Florence today is A Woman Drinking and a Soldier Asleep (Hofstede de Groot no. 79, many replicas) [58]. Nothing is known about its acquisition, however.⁵³

Difficulties of a different kind arose with Frans van Mieris I (1635-1681). Cosimo had visited the painter during both his trips and at the end of June 1669 collected the pictures he had ordered during his first visit. When in Leiden he also inspected the collection of Cornelis Paets, who was the patron of Frans van Mieris. There he saw a genre painting for which he offered 3,000 guilders but to no avail. Of the eight pictures now in the Uffizi Gallery The Quack (an early work; Hofstede de Groot no. 33) [59] could have been acquired on Cosimo’s first journey and perhaps also The Soldier and the Serving Girl (Hofstede de Groot no. 94) [60]. Cosimo will have taken The Young Beauty [61] with him on his second journey. Its companion piece The Old Lover (Hofstede de Groot 223; according to Mieris it depicts the lovesick Brederode) [62] was only shipped in 1674 by way of ‘compensation’, because the Music Scene (Hofstede de Groot no. 171) [63], which the artist had been commissioned to paint in 1672, was still not finished. Many letters were sent back and forth between the Grand Ducal Court and Guasconi, the resident agent in Amsterdam. After repeated admonitions and warnings and a few advances the painting was finally finished in 1675 and dispatched to Florence. All told, Mieris received 2,600 guilders for his efforts! The self-portraits were finished more rapidly. The small one arrived in 1675/6 (Hofstede de Groot no. 242 or 243) [64] and the large one a year later [see above]. Its composition, size and material had been specified in advance so that it would fit into the portrait gallery (Hofstede de Groot no. 241). But when the Grand Duke asked Mieris for a painting of the miraculous deeds performed by St. Francis Xavier in Asia, for which the artist was permitted to use engravings as models, the artist declined the honourable commission because, as he said, he could only paint what he had seen in reality and that did not include any Japanese, Moluccans, etc.⁵⁴

59
Frans van Mieris (I)
The quack, c. 1653-1655
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1174

60
Frans van Mieris (I)
A young man with an empty glass, and a woman with a jug, 1670-1683
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1890, n. 1277

The paintings by Knight Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722) in Cosimo’s possession were probably mostly gifts from his son-in-law Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatinate, for whom the painter worked. These gifts were all the more remarkable in that Solomon’s Judgment (Hofstede de Groot no. 26) (fig. 54) [65] and a portrait of the Elector (or only the copies by Douwen which are still there today?) were the very first paintings van der Werff delivered to Düsseldorf (for the modest sum of 3,000 guilders!). The self-portrait of the artist will have arrived some time later, since it is described in the oldest catalogue of the Düsseldorf Gallery compiled by Karsch (Hofstede de Groot no. 174) [37]. Apart from these works a number of other paintings made their way directly or indirectly via Düsseldorf to Florence.⁵⁵ The four paintings by Eglon van der Neer probably also came from Düsseldorf. These were a self-portrait (Hofstede de Groot no. 120) [34], an Esther and Ahassuerus and two small landscapes from 1697 (Hofstede de Groot nos. 120 and 169) [66-69].⁵⁶

To round things off, mention must be made of a few pictures which might not have been expected to be in the collection. In 1668, Cosimo visited the Amsterdam studio of Willem van de Velde I (c. 1611-1693), from whom he later acquired many paintings through the good services of Pieter Blaeu. Some of these acquisitions can be traced in the inventories of the Medici collection; they include the great grisaille painting from 1655 [=1665] first mentioned in the inventory of 1688 [=1687]. The real admirer of van de Velde, however, was Cosimo’s uncle, the aforementioned Cardinal Leopold.⁵⁷ In 1672, Blaeu and Feroni helped him secure possession of The Surrender of the Royal Prince, a large painting for which van de Velde supplied detailed explanatory notes. The receipt for the sum of 500 guilders has also been preserved. The painting [70-71] found its way by inheritance into the Chigi Collection in Rome, where it remains to this day.⁵⁸ Three smaller paintings arrived in Florence at the same time. After the two artists [Willem van de Velde the Elder and Willem van de Velde the Younger] moved to London it proved more difficult to obtain paintings from them. By a fortunate coincidence Blaeu was able to acquire a painting for Florence in 1674.⁵⁹ Ludolf Bakhuizen’s (1630-1708) name is also mentioned in the correspondence: Leopold had seen a painting in Florence which cost 900 guilders. This was probably the picture of 1667 which Houbraken also mentions and is now in the Pitti Gallery [72].⁶⁰

70
Willem van de Velde (I)
The conquest of the Royal Prince during the four-day battle in 1666, dated 1672
Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, inv./cat.nr. 2772

In 1668 Cosimo acquired a souvenir of Amsterdam: a view of the town hall painted by Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) which the artist had just completed (dated 1667, Hofstede de Groot no. 12) [73].⁶¹ Its perspective was flawed and in order to correct the error the painter attached a lens to the frame through which the picture could be viewed.⁶² Later Francesco Feroni acted as an intermediary in an attempt to purchase a different painting but his endeavours proved in vain.

The works of art owned by the Medici have kept us in Florence for quite some time. Theirs was one of the foremost collections of Dutch art compiled during the 17th century in Italy, despite the fact that Dutch artists played no significant role in Florence itself. We can add here that Dirck Helmbreeker (1633-1696) spent two or three years in Florence during his repeated travels throughout Italy [74-75]. He was a guest of Carlo Ughi (1634-1705),⁶³ whose sons were amateur painters. Baldinucci, who knew the artist well, described many of Helmbreker’s genre paintings in this and other Florentine collections.⁶⁴ Less information is available on other Dutchmen working in Florence. Nothing is known of the works Cornelis de Man (1621-1706)⁶⁵ produced here between 1652 and 1655 or of the endeavours of Salomon Rombouts (1655-1700/2), who was in the city in 1690.⁶⁶ Hendrick Verschuring (1627-1690) is also said to have travelled to Rome via Florence and there will no doubt have been other artists who passed through without leaving any visible traces of their activity.

73
Jan van der Heyden and attributed to Adriaen van de Velde
View on the Town hall of Amsterdam, dated 1667
Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv./cat.nr. 1211