Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem

Probably anonymous sale, Rotterdam, Rijp, 11 June 1808, lot 99;

Probably where acquired by Dionys van Dongen (1748-1819);

Private collection, Europe:

Anonymous sale ("The Property of a European Lady"), London, Philips, 14 December 1999, lot 6:

With Colnaghi, London;

From whom acquired by the late collector, 2001.

ENGRAVED

Jan Saenredam, circa 1600.

Prior to its rediscovery at the end of the twentieth century, the present painting was known only from an engraving of the composition by Jan Saenredam (1565-1607), which Dr. Pieter J.J. van Thiel dated on a stylistic basis to circa 1600.¹ Indeed, the present painting is signed and dated 1599. As is the case with all prints after Cornelis's works that were made during his lifetime, the engraving is accompanied by a Latin poem composed specifically for the occasion by Nicolaes van Wassenaer (d. 1631), an Amsterdam scholar and physician. Translated, the verses read: “The son of Saturn and ruler of the seas, Neptune I am called, and with this scepter I reign over my proud kingdom. I’ve taught the dolphins to obey my icy cold reins studded with wolves’s teeth, and to cleave the choppy waves of the sea.”

¹ P.J.J. van Thiel, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, 1562-1638: A Monograph and Catalogue Raisonné, Doornspijk 1999, pp. 155, 433, cat. no. P18, reproduced pl. 169; For an example of the engraving, see Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst, inv. no. KKSgb3579.