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Shown from the waist up, a clean-shaven, pale-skinned man dressed in black gazes at us in this vertical portrait painting, which has an arched top. His body is angled to our right, but he glances back toward us with slightly drooping hazel-green eyes under slender brows. His face tapers to a narrow chin, and his pale pink lips are closed. His ear-length brown hair and bangs are mostly covered by a wide, black hat that sits cocked to our left. He wears a voluminous black coat with a wide fur collar over a black garment with a notched collar. A white shirt beneath is visible at the neck and cuffs. He pulls a bone-white glove onto one hand and wears a gold ring with a green gem on the index finger of his bare hand. The green background behind him glows around his shoulders and deepens to moss green around the arched top of the panel.

Joos van Cleve

Joris Vezeleer, probably 1518

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 41-A

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

painted surface: 56.3 x 38.2 cm (22 3/16 x 15 1/16 in.)
overall (panel, rounded top): 58 x 40 cm (22 13/16 x 15 3/4 in.)

framed: 66 x 48.9 cm (26 x 19 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Accession Number

1962.9.1

Artists / Makers

Joos van Cleve (artist) Netherlandish, active 1505/1508 - 1540/1541

Image Use

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Provenance

Probably Joris Vezeleer [d. 16 October 1570], Antwerp;[1] probably his widow, Margaretha Boghe [d. perhaps 20 August 1574], Antwerp;[2] Possibly Prince Karl Eusebius of Liechtenstein [1611- 1684].[3] Prince Johann Adam Andreas of Liechtenstein [1657-1712], "Fideikomissgalerie," Vienna; his nephew, Prince Emanuel of Liechtenstein [d. 1771], 1712-1722; Reigning Prince Josef Johann of Liechtenstein [1690 -1732], Vienna, by 1722;[4] his son, Prince Johann Nepomuk [1724 -1748], Vienna;[5] Princes of Liechtenstein; Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein, Vienna, until 1939, afterward Vaduz, Principality of Liechtenstein; sold 1962 through (Marianne Feilchenfeldt, Zurich) to NGA.

[1] This portrait was probably ordered to commemorate the betrothal or marriage of the sitter, as Margaretha Boghe holds a pink in the pendant portrait--the traditional symbol of engagement or conjugal fidelity. An inscription states that Vezeleer and Boghe were married for fifty-two years. Since Vezeleer died in 1570, they must have married around 1518. At that time, Joris Vezeleer would have been twenty-five years old, which accords well with his appearance in this portrait.

[2] Both portraits are probably mentioned in the inventory of 1574-1575 made at the time of her death. Jan Denucé, The Antwerp Art-Galleries. Inventories of the Art-Collections in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th Centuries, The Hague, 1932: 6: "Een contrefeystel van Joris Veselaer ende Jouffre. Margrieten Boge syner huysvrouwen op twee doeren."

[3] The Getty Provenance Index records that the painting was in Prince Karl's possession "by 1652".

[4] A family contract of 1722 established that the "Fideikomiss" set up by Prince Johann Adam, which included the art collection and property in Vienna, would belong to the reigning princes of the house of Liechtenstein in succession.

[5] When Prince Josef Johann died, his son, Prince Johann Nepomuk, was under age and his uncle Prince Josef Wenzel was appointed guardian. In 1733 Prince Josef Wenzel applied red wax seals bearing the arms of Liechtenstein and the date 1733 to all paintings that were part of the "Fideikomissgalerie." In effect this commemorates the heritage of Prince Johann Adam and separated the works from Prince Josef Wenzel's own collection. See the essay by Wilhelm, "Die Liechtenstein-Galerie," in Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein, [exh. cat., Kunstmuseum] (Lucerne, 1948), 19-20. Information on this aspect of the provenance was given by Dr. Reinhold Baumstark, Director of Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, in letters of 28 June 1982 and 28 May 1985, in the NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Boghe, Margaretha
Feilchenfeldt, Walter M.
Liechtenstein, Prince Franz Josef II of
Liechtenstein, Prince Josef Johann Adam of
Liechtenstein, Alois I of Prince
Liechtenstein, Emanuel of, Prince
Liechtenstein, Johann Adam Andreas I of Prince
Liechtenstein, Prince Alois II of
Liechtenstein, Prince Franz I of
Liechtenstein, Prince Franz Josef I of
Liechtenstein, Prince Johann I of
Liechtenstein, Prince Johann II of
Liechtenstein, Prince Johann Nepomuk Karl of
Liechtenstein, Prince Karl Eusebius of
Liechtenstein, Princes of
Vezeleer, Joris

Exhibition History

1948: Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein, Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, 1948, no. 74.

2011: Joos van Cleve: Leonardo des Nordens [Joos van Cleve: Leonardo of the North], Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen, 2011, no. 48, fig. 71.

2017: François ler et l'art des Pays-Bas, Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2017-2018, no. 92, repro.

Technical Summary

The panel is made up of two members joined vertically. It is likely that sometime in the past the panel was taken apart, perhaps because of movement along the join line. X-radiographs show three empty dowel holes, and it is possible that the dowels were replaced by the five butterfly reinforcements now in place. Moderate losses along the join line have been repainted, with the heaviest retouching on the bottom half of the join. The panel is in generally good condition. The bottom finger of the sitter's gloved hand is repainted; there is feathered retouching along the left side of the black robe and scattered retouching in the face and throat and along the edges of the hat.

Examination with infrared reflectography revealed scattered areas of underdrawing in the outline of the gloved hand, in the knuckles, and along the edge of the sitter's nose.

At the bottom left is a resinous circular seal that is partially destroyed and has been covered with black paint. This is almost certainly the same seal of the house of Liechtenstein as that found on the reverse. Reverse: At the center is a black, resinous circular seal that is largely destroyed. At the top center is a red, resinous, circular seal bearing the coat-of-arms of the house of Liechtenstein and the date 1733. Also on the reverse are a paper label from the Lucerne exhibition of 1948 and a black stamp.

Bibliography

1767: Fanti, Vincenzio. Descrizzione Completa di Tutto ciò che Ritrovasi nella Galleria di Pittura e Scultura di Sua Altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao ... della Casa di Liechtenstein. Vienna, 1767: 91, no. 405, 451.

1780: Liechtenstein, François Joseph de. Description des Tableaux et des pièces de sculpture que renferme la gallerie de son altesse François Joseph ... de Liechtenstein. Vienna, 1780: 179, 181, nos. 586, 589.

1866: Waagen, Gustav. Die vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien. Vienna, 1866: 279-280.

1873: Falke, J. Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bilder-Galerie im Gartenpalais der Rossau, zu Wien. Vienna, 1873: 124, nExh. cat.os. 1077, 1079.

1916: Worp, Jacop Adolf, ed. De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens. 6 vols. The Hague, 1916: 5:162-163.

1924: Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei 14 vols. 1924-1937. Berlin, 1931: 9:53, 144, no. 117. (English ed., 14 vols., 1967-1976. Leiden, 1972: 9:117, pls. 122-123.)

1925: Baldass, Ludwig. Joos van Cleve. Der Meister des Todes Mariä. Vienna, 1925: 21, nos. 37-38, figs. 41-42.

1927: Kronfeld, Adolf. Führer durch die Fürstlich Liechtensteinsche Gemäldegalerie in Wien. Vienna, 1927: 136, 138, nos. 704, 707.

1932: Denucé, Jan. The Antwerp Art-Galleries. Inventories of the Art-Collections in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The Hague, 1932: 6.

1948: Baldass, Ludwig. "Die niederländischen Bilder in der Liechtenstein-Galerie." Meisterwerke aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein. Exh. cat. Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, 1948: xxvii, 75.

1949: Denucé, Jan. Na Peter Paul Rubens. Documenten uit de Kunsthandel te Antwerpen in de XVIIe eeuw van Matthijs Musson. Antwerp, 1949: 127-128.

1955: Cairns, Huntington. "Report on the National Gallery of Art." Smithsonian Institution. Report of the Secretary and Financial Report of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents (1955): 208, pl. 12.

1955: Gerson, Horst. "Joos van Cleve." Oud Holland 70 (1955): 129-130, figs. 1-2.

1963: "Acquisti della National Gallery di Washington." Domus no. 406 (1963): 57, repro.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 305, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 28.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 22, repro.

1973: Regteren Altena, J.Q. van. "Rembrandts Persönlichkeit. Versuch einer Profilierung." Neue Beiträge zur Rembrandt-Forschung. Berlin, 1973: 186, pl. 37, fig. 150.

1974: Kerkhove, A. van den. "Joris Vezeller, Een Antwerps Koopman-Ondernemer van de XVIde Eeuw." Annalen, 63 Congres Sint-Niklaas-Waas 1974: 326-334, figs. 1-2.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 72, repro.

1978: Hand, John Oliver. "Joos van Cleve: The Early and Mature Paintings." Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1978: 18, 147-150, 299, no. 30, figs. 37-38.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 135, no. 129, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 92, repro.

1986: Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 57-62, repro. 58.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. Joos Van Cleve. The Complete Paintings. New Haven and London, 2004: 61, 129-130, no. 29, fig. 64A.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 124, no. 93, color repro.

2015: Buchanan, Iain. Hapsburg Tapestries. Turnhout, Belgium, 2015: 22, 324 n. 79.

2021: Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "In Pursuit of Masterpieces: The National Gallery of Art’s Acquisitions from the Prince of Liechtenstein." Artibus et historiae 42, no. 83 (2021): 322, 325, 328, color fig. 12.