Jan Verkolje

The Messenger

Jan Verkolje De boodschapper
Jan Verkolje De boodschapper
Jan Verkolje De boodschapper
Jan Verkolje De boodschapper
Jan Verkolje De boodschapper
Jan Verkolje De boodschapper

Jan Verkolje
The Messenger

On view in Room 11

An officer and a young lady are sitting at a table playing backgammon. Just as she is about to throw the dice, a messenger appears holding a letter. Is he bringing good news or bad? The concerned look on the officer’s face suggests the worst.

Verkolje was a master at depicting gleaming satin. The back of this beautiful dress, full of pleats, seams and creases, is a good example of his skill.

Technical details
Jan Verkolje De boodschapper

Jan Verkolje
The Messenger

On view in Room 11

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Details

General information
Artist Jan Verkolje (Amsterdam 1650 - 1693 Delft)
Title The Messenger
Object name painting
Inventory number 865
On view in Room 11
Material and technical details
Technique oil
Material canvas
Dimensions 59.7 x 53.4 cm
Inscriptions
Signed and dated at left, on a plinth next to the door: I. Verkolje / 1674

Provenance

Possibly Pieter van Winter, before 1807; possibly Anna van Winter, 1807-1877; Van Loon Collection, Amsterdam; Van Loon Collection sold en bloc to Gustave de Rothschild, 1877; Alfred de Rothschild, London; Victor de Rothschild, London; sale London (Sotheby’s), 19-22 April 1937, no. 19 (for 1800 pounds to art dealers S. and R. Rosenberg); Fritz Mannheimer (1890-1939), Amsterdam; sold as part of the Mannheimer Collection to the Dienststelle Mühlmann for Adolf Hitler, Führermuseum, Linz, 1940; Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit (inv. no. NK 3111), 1946; on loan to the Mauritshuis, 1948-1960; transferred, 1960

Second World War

This painting is part of the Netherlands Art Property Collection (‘NK collection’): objects that were stolen, seized or purchased during the Nazi regime. After the Second World War they were placed under the administration of the Dutch State. In recent decades, applications for restitution are taken into consideration again and some objects have been returned to the heirs of their rightful owners.

For more information: visit our page on provenance research