Brave Fine Art has dated this piece to the 17th Century.
The portrait dates to circa 1610 when Geldorp was in the later stages of his career and worked predominantly in Cologne.
On the reverse, a wax seal dating to the early 19th century displays two conjoined coats of arms. One of these relates to the Lieven family, specifically its ‘princely seal’, which applied from 1826 when Charlotte Margarete Fürstin von Lieven was granted the hereditary title of Princess in the Russian Empire. She married Baron Otto Heinrich von Lieven, who descended from one of the oldest aristocratic families of German-Baltic origin. The Lieven line is well documented and dates to, at least, the 12th century.
There are two plausible reasons why the portrait bears the princely seal. Either the sitter is an ancestor of Charlotte Margarete Fürstin von Lieven (nee Baroness von Gaugreben)/Baron Otto Heinrich von Lieven, or it could simply have been applied to any painting within the Lieven collection. Geldorp was a respected master in Cologne and perhaps the Lievens acquired this piece. The pair had several children.
Gortzius Geldorp was born in Leuven, Flemish Brabant, and information relating to the early part of his career is scarce. The art historian, Karel van Mander (1548-1606), was the first to allude to him, referring to him as ‘Gualdrop Gortzius gheseyt Geldrop’ (Gualdrop Gortzius called Geldrop), which suggests that his family hailed from Geldrop in North Brabant, The Netherlands. This remains uncertain however, as nothing is known of his forebears.
It’s generally accepted that he travelled to Antwerp in 1569 and trained under two of its principal painters, Frans Francken I (1542-1616) and Frans Pourbus the Elder (1545-1581). Pourbus was a master of highly individualised portrayals with fine details rendered deftly.
In 1576, Geldorp was appointed as court painter to the Duke of Terra Nova, Carlo d'Aragona Tagliavia, and would accompany him on numerous European sojourns. In 1579, the pair travelled to Cologne as the Duke was serving as Philip II’s ambassador in peace negotiations with the Dutch. Here, it’s suggested that Geldorp remained and undertook numerous works depicting biblical subjects, such as ‘Esther and Ahasuerus’, yet very little documentation survives. In 1609, the Dutch writer Matthias Quad (1557-1613) described him as ‘currently living in Cologne’ and ‘favoured above all others for likenesses from life’. The same year, he was elected as a representative of the Cologne Painters' Guild.
During our conservation process, the elaborate detailing on the gentleman’s doublet became evident, much to our astonishment. It’s challenging to photograph and not visible from the photography so please refer to the PDF for further information. It resembles the artist's handling in another of his works from a similar period. In addition, the lacework is very close in design and handling to that displayed on his portrait of Simon VI, Count of Lippe (1554-1613), dated 1601.
During the later part of his career, he produced numerous bust-length portraits and small religious works with varying degrees of finesse. The majority of these bear full attributions as ‘by’ the artist. However, in our view, we feel that some of these were completed by assistants, at least in part. One of the most compelling works to compare with ours is a portrait of Christ, circa 1600, produced by his workshop.
Gortzius Geldorp died in Cologne circa 1619 and around 70 works are attributed to his hand. He’s represented in numerous
Brave Fine Art has dated this piece to the 17th Century.
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Gortzius Geldorp (Attributed to Workshop), Portrait of a Gentleman - Antique Oil Painting
