Attributed to CONSTANTIJN NETSCHER (The Hague 1666 – 1723 The Hague)
Attributed to Constantijn Netscher (The Hague 1666 – 1723 The Hague)
Portrait of Louis de Casembroot (c.1665–1709)
Oil on panel, 11.1 x 9 cm (4.4 x 3.5 inch); contained in the original carved and gilded frame with the Casembroot coat-of-arms, outer dimensions 25 x 19.5 cm (9.8 x 7.7 inch)
Literature
F. Vogelzang, ‘ “Sorchvuldich van eere ende reputatie.” Adellijke militairen in Staatse dienst in het Sticht in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw’, Jaarboek Oud-Utrecht 2015, pp. 133-158, esp. p. 153, repr. (colour)
***
Constantijn Netscher was the son of the painter Caspar Netscher and Margaretha Godijn.1 He was taught the art of painting by his father, and further continued his studies at the Drawing Academy in The Hague. Constantijn painted elegant courtly portraits, historical scenes and Italianate landscapes.
Louis de Casembroot, Lord of Willige-Langerack, Captain of the Guards and Lieutenant-General, died in the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709.2 He was the son of Jan de Casembroot, Lord of Termoer, Rynesteyn and Willige-Langerack (1625–1681) and Charlotta van Leedenburg. Louis’s elder brother, Jan de Casembroot (1655–1706), married Susanna Ploos van Amstel. The Casembroot family was oringally from Piemonte, named Caesabon, but an ancestor named Gaspard moved to Flanders, where he died in Bruges in 1443. During the sixteenth century, a branch of the Casembroot family moved to the Northern Netherlands.
The painting is contained in its original exceptional carved and gilded frame, containing the Casembroot coat-of-arms.
1. For the artist, see Charles Dumas and Edwin Buijsen, Haagse schilders in de Gouden Eeuw : het Hoogsteder lexicon van alle schilders werkzaam in Den Haag 1600-1700, The Hague 1998, pp. 218-223.
2. See F. Vogelzang, ‘ “Sorchvuldich van eere ende reputatie.” Adellijke militairen in Staatse dienst in het Sticht in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw’, Jaarboek Oud-Utrecht 2015, pp. 133-158, esp. p. 153.
