1016 - Wohl Amsterdamer Meister des 16. Jahrhunderts

Wohl Amsterdamer Meister des 16. Jahrhunderts Probably Amsterdam School, 16th century Portrait of Hans van Leuven Oil on panel. 42 × 34.5 cm (semi-oval). Dated upper centre: 1535. Provenance Collection of Henri Binaud, Bordeaux. – Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, c. 1966/67–1983. – Private collection, Belgium. A young man of 24 gazes at us gravely from the picture. He is fashionably coiffed and dressed, wearing a beret and a heavy black overgown, a fur-trimmed doublet and a finely embroidered white shirt. The letter in his left hand marks him as an educated man of standing, which is how he confidently presents himself. Thanks to the lion coat of arms affixed to the reverse of the painting, the sitter has been identified for the first time as Hans van Leuven (1511–1578). Born in Hamburg on 20 May 1511, he worked as a proud merchant in Amsterdam on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal, in the heart of the city's bustling commercial quarter. His lion coat of arms was ceremoniously granted to him by Emperor Charles V by means of a 'Wapendiploma' on 22 April 1556; van Leuven presumably had it later added to the reverse of the portrait, dated 1535. His daughter Lijsbeth (1543–1625), whose portrait is in the Amsterdam Museum (inv. no. SB 4147), continued to bear the arms and eventually brought them into the famous Amsterdam patrician family of Backer, which still bears them today. In the sources, van Leuven is described as 'om den gelove fugitief', a refugee for the sake of his faith. As a Protestant merchant, he was forced to flee Amsterdam in the course of the religious persecutions under Spanish rule and took refuge in Danzig. He died there on 4 February 1578, only a few months before Amsterdam went over to the Reformed side with the Alteratie in May 1578. The painting is likely a rare testimony to early sixteenth-century Amsterdam portrait painting and was probably created in the circle of Dirck Jacobsz. and Claesz Allaert. Literature and sources on the coat of arms and the identification: H. Nagtegaal / H. Morien: Herkomst familiewapen van het Amsterdamse geslacht Backer, in: Gens Nostra, LXXI (2016), pp. 174–176. – J. E. Elias: De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578–1795, vol. 1, Haarlem 1903, no. 23, p. 68; no. 70, p. 238. – Amsterdam City Archives, Archive 172, inv. no. 375: Aantekeningen betreffende familiegebeurtenissen, gescheurd uit een negotieboek door Willem Backer Willemsz, Elisabeth van Leuven en hun zoon Jacob. – Amsterdam City Archives, Archive 172, inv. no. 378: Akte van verlening van een wapen door keizer Karel V aan Hans van Leuven, vader van Elisabeth van Leuven. For comparative illustrations, see the printed catalogue as well as the PDF version.