Jan van der Heyden Gorinchem 1637 - 1712 Amsterdam

Probably anonymous sale, Amsterdam, September 8, 1773, lot 32, for 59 florins to Van der Hoop;
Léopold Double (bears his lable affixed to the reverse with his coats-of-arms and inscription: EX MUSEO [D]OUBLE;
His sale, Paris, Ch. Pillet, May 30, 1881, lot 13;
Adolphe Jos. Bösch;
His sale, Vienna, P. Kaeser, April 28, 1885, lot 24, for 5,000 florins to Kohlbacher;
Dr. Paul Stern, Frankfurt-am-Main;
Acquired by the Städel, Frankfurt from his estate with subsidy from the Schaub-Stiftung, 1941 (as by Jan van der Heyden and Adrien van de Velde);
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt-am-Main, inv. 1126, 1941-2005;
Restituted to the heirs of Dr. Paul Stern, 2005.

C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Painters..., vol. VIII, London 1927, p. 407, no. 271 (as by van der Heyden with figures by A. van de Velde);
E.H. (ed.), Städelsches Kunstinstut.  Verzeichnis der Gemälde..., Frankfurt 1971, p. 28;
H. Wagner, Jan van der Heyden, Amsterdam & Haarlem 1971, p. 101, no. 149;
Städelsches Kunstinstitut.  Verzeichnis der Gemälde..., Frankfurt 1987, p. 54;
J. Sander and B. Brinkmann, Niederländische Gemälde vor 1800 in Städel, Frankfurt 1995, p. 35, reproduced plate 71.

As well as his famous townscapes, Van der Heyden also specialized in painting portraits of country houses in the Provinces of North and South Holland, many of them on the River Vecht between Amsterdam and Utrecht, the Huis ten Bosch near The Hague, or in the environs of Haarlem. While Van der Heyden may have painted capriccio views of imaginary houses, the inscription above the door: OVer; makes it unlikely in this case.

We are grateful to Dr. Peter Sutton for pointing out that the country house depicted here is thought to be the Hofstede Wolff en Hoeck on the river Purmer near Purmerend in the Province of Noord Holland, to the north of Amsterdam.  In front of it is a trekvaart, or horse-drawn passenger ferry which, along the Purmer, connected Amsterdam with the Zuider Zee port of Hoorn.  This house was built by Peter de Wolf, nephew of Joost van den Vondel, the famous Amsterdam poet. The name of the house was chosen after Wolf's second marriage with Suzanna van Hoeck in 1677.  There is a painting after Jan van der Heyden reproduced in J.F.M. Sterck, Hoofdstukken over Vondel en zijn kring, Amsterdam 1923, p. 126-31, that Sterck identifies as the Hofstede Wolff en Hoeck.  The house in Sterck’s reproduction, however, can be positively identified with the Hofstede Goudestein on the Vecht river (see H. Wagner, Jan van der Heyden, 1637-1712, Amsterdam 1971, p. 95) and it is thus still possible, with Sterck’s misidentification in mind, that the present picture does indeed depict the Hofstede Wolff en Hoeck.

This panel is enlivened by the presence of six small-scale figures, among which are a man and woman walking in front of the house, whom Hofstede de Groot identifies as its owners (see Literature below).  The staffage has been traditionally attributed to Adriaen van de Velde.

Peter de Wolf celebrated his twenty-sixth birthday at the Hofstede Wolff en Hoeck, where he had his lambs, water sources and his famous orangerie. Vondel wrote a poem on this occasion, in which the country house has a prominent place;

Op het verjaeren van Peter de Wolf.

Cingite fronde comas et pocula porgite dextris

Verheught u, Amsterdammers:
Het is een blyde tyt.
DE WOLF weit by de lammers.
Hier valt geen twist noch stryt.
De waterbronnen springen.
Oranjen bloeien schoon.
Nu laet ons vrolyk zingen.
De maetzang spann' de kroon.
Viert d'uur van myn geboorte,
Die heden weêr verjaert.
De zon uit d'ooster poorte
Zich helder openbaert,
Na zesentwintigh ronden.
Bekranst uw hooft met blaên.
Drinkt wyn gelyk gezonden:
Hier magh een dronk op staen.
De cimbel laet zich hooren,
En mengt zich in 't gezang.
De jeught wort weêrgeboren.
Wien valt de tyt te lang!
Apol, de zangbeleier,
Met blyschap herwaert spoe,
Nu drinkt den berkemeier
Elkandren vrolyk toe.

Joost van den Vondel 

(free translation)
 
On the birthday of Peter de Wolf

Surround your locks with laurel and place full cups in your right hands

Rejoice, oh people of Amsterdam 
These are happy times 
The Wolf grazes with the lambs 
Here’s no dispute, nor twist
The springs are full in flow 
The orangerie is blossoming 
Now let us sing with joy
Rhythm wears the crown 
Celebrate the hour of my birth
Which expires as we speak 
The sun from the eastern gate 
Brightly revealing 
After twenty six rounds 
Crown thy selves with laurel
Drink wine as it arrives
This calls for a toast 
The harpsichord plays 
And mingles with the songs 
Youth is reborn
For whom does this take too long? 
Apollo, the head chorister, 
Hurried with joy  
Now the Berkemeiers drink
Joyful to each other.

J.v. Vondel