Portrait of a Scholar
Artist: Willem Moreelse (Dutch, 1618/1623-1666)
Date: 1647
Dimensions:
H: 32 5/8 in. (82.8 cm); W: 26 3/8 in. (67 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1962.70
Label Text:Portraits were one of the most popular forms of art commissioned in the Netherlands in the 1600s. For the growing middle class of successful merchants, they were an important way to establish lineage or family legacy, proclaim status, and mark milestones. In this portrait, the young man (his age is given at the top right as 21) wears the bonnet and laurel leaves of a university doctoral graduate—the 17th-century Dutch version of a cap and gown. The medal around his neck bears the coats of arms of the city and the university of Utrecht.
The man holds up a book, open to two botanical illustrations, one of which bears the Latin verse, “This herb points out the presence of God.” The illustrations depict the herbs euphorbium (on the left) and dock, both used at the time in treatments for the bubonic plague. The identity of the man has not yet been determined.
The man holds up a book, open to two botanical illustrations, one of which bears the Latin verse, “This herb points out the presence of God.” The illustrations depict the herbs euphorbium (on the left) and dock, both used at the time in treatments for the bubonic plague. The identity of the man has not yet been determined.
Not on view
In Collection(s)