© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
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Portrait of(1611–1678),
Amsterdam

Andries de Graeff
BurgomasterofGerard ter Borch the Younger(Zwolle 1617 – 1681 Deventer)1673
oil on canvas
39.3 x 29 cm
unsigned but inscribed and dated (incorrectly)
by a later hand, upper left corner: “Andries deGraeff lxiii Jaer M.D.C.LXXIIII”
GB-106

How To Cite
Wieseman, Marjorie E. "Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster of Amsterdam." InTheLeiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017.
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Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
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Andries de Graeff (1611–78) was one of the wealthiest and most influential[1]

men in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic.

Comparative Figures

He was the son of

Jacob Dircksz de Graeff (several times burgomaster of Amsterdam) andAeltge Boelens; through marriage and political affiliation he was allied withthe powerful Bicker family, as well as with the Republican anti-Orangist
raadpensionaris (Grand Pensionary) Johan de Witt (1625–72). In 1646
Andries married his niece, Elisabeth Bicker van Swieten (1623–56), andhad three children by her. Especially after the death of his brother Cornelisin 1664, Andries was a dominant force in Amsterdam politics: he servedseven terms as burgomaster between 1657 and 1672, and was a memberof the vroedschap (city council) between 1665 and 1672. The change ingovernment brought about by the closing of the First Stadholderless
Period and the appointment of Willem III as stadholder of the Netherlands
in 1672 signaled the end of De Graeff’s political career.
Around 1670 De Graeff built an impressive house on Amsterdam’s
fashionable Herengracht, which he filled with the fruits of his assiduous

Fig 1. Rembrandt van Rijn,
Portrait of Andries de Graeff,
1639, oil on canvas, 200 x 125cm, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister,
Staatliche Museen, Kassel, inv.
GK 239collecting and patronage of the arts, including ceiling paintings by Gerardde Lairesse (now in the Vredespaleis, The Hague).[2] De Graeff wasinstrumental in commissioning decorations for Amsterdam’s new Town
Hall, and in 1660 helped organize a strategic gift of artworks to KingCharles II of England. Alongside his commitment to the visual arts, DeGraeff was also Maecenas to the poets Joost van den Vondel, Jan Vos,Caspar Barlaeus, and Gerard Brandt.
De Graeff was portrayed on several occasions by some of the most soughtafter artists of the era: in paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69) from1639 (fig 1) and Govaert Flinck (1615–60) from the early 1650s, in adrawing by Jan Lievens (1607–74) from about 1657 (fig 2), and in a
marble bust by Artus Quellinus (1609–68) made in 1661 (fig 3). Painted in
1673, Gerard ter Borch the Younger’s portrait is the last of these, depicting

Fig 2. Jan Lievens, Portrait ofAndries de Graeff, blackcharcoal, 42 x 31 cm, Teylers
Museum, Haarlem, Inv. Nr. P.6

the subject at the age of sixty-two or sixty-three. De Graeff is dressed
plainly, in a black doublet and breeches and wearing a simple flat linen
collar; with both hands, he pulls close around him the black cloak draped
over his shoulders. On the table at right is a slim book, closed securely
with ribbons and seals. Despite the sober attire, Ter Borch’s portrait of De
Graeff hints discreetly at some personal vanity: the man’s luxuriantly fulland glossy brown wig is ill matched to his mustache and carefully clippedmouche, which reveal the silvery hair of a man in his sixties.[3]© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
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Ter Borch painted several portraits of the extended De Graeff family (aswell as other prominent Amsterdam sitters) while in Deventer between
1672 and 1674: Andries’s son Cornelis and Cornelis’ wife, Agneta Deutz,
and his nephews Pieter and Jacob de Graeff.[4] The portraits of Andries
and Cornelis de Graeff are both inscribed with a date of 1674, which, as
Dudok van Heel has shown, is incorrect. An entry in Pieter de Graeff’s
almanac for 22 July 1673 mentions the commission for Ter Borch’s portraitof his brother Jacob and implies that the portrait of Cornelis was alreadycompleted by that date.[5] Presumably Andries’s portrait was painted atabout the same time. Although the inscriptions were added at a later date,they appear to be quite old (possibly from the eighteenth century); in bothinstances the painting’s craquelure also runs through the paint of theFig 3. Artus Quellinus, Portrait
Bust of Andries de Graeff, 1661,marble, 73 cm high,Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv.
BK-18305

inscriptions.[6]Three versions of Ter Borch’s Portrait of Andries de Graeff are extant. The
present version was unknown to scholars until it was exhibited at themonographic Ter Borch exhibition held in The Hague and Münster in1974. The painting did not find universal acceptance at the time; Gerson,in his review of the exhibition, suggested it might be by Caspar Netscher,although there is no specific stylistic reason to think this is the case.[7] A
second version of the portrait, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (fig 4),
is probably a studio work. Another, weaker version, which is slightly larger
in its dimensions, is in the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen.
Although the Leiden Collection’s painting has probably been trimmed at
the sides and at the top,[8] the excellent condition of the paint surface
allows one to appreciate fully Ter Borch’s sensitive depiction of thisFig 4. Studio of Gerard ter Borch,
Andries de Graeff, oil on canvas,
39 x 29 cm, Musée des BeauxArts, Dijon, no. CA T 63

imposing individual.

-Marjorie E. Wieseman© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
Page 5 of 9Endnotes
1. For biographical information on De Graeff, see P. C. Molhuysen and P. J. Blok, eds.,Nieuw
Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek (Leiden, 1912): 490–92; Wim de Bell and Norbert
Middelkoop in Kopstukken: Amsterdammers geportretteerd 1600–1800, ed. Norbert
Middelkoop (Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Amsterdams Historisch Museum) (Bussum, 2002), 134,136; Kees Zandvliet, De 250 rijksten van de Gouden Eeuw: Kapitaal, macht, familie enlevensstijl (Amsterdam, 2006), 77–78; and S. A. C. Dudok van Heel, Van Amsterdamse
burgers tot Europese aristocraten, 2 vols. (The Hague, 2008), 1:104.
2. On De Graeff’s collecting and patronage, see S. A. C. Dudok van Heel, “Het Maecenaat deGraeff en Rembrandt,” Maandblad Amstelodamum 56 (1969): 150–55, and G. J. M. Weber,“Dus leeft de dappre Graaf. Zu einem Bildnis Andries de Graeffs von Jan Lievens(1607–1674),” Oud Holland 99 (1985): 48ff.
3. Pieter C. Vis, Andries de Graeff 1611–1678: ‘t Gezagh is heerelyk; Doch volbekommeringen, paper submitted to Universiteit van Amsterdam (2010): 16, no. 4.1.3. For acomparison of all the known portraits of Andries de Graeff, see 20, no. 4.1.6.
4. Ter Borch lived in Amsterdam from the spring of 1672, when the forces of the bishop ofMünster and the archbishop of Cologne occupied the city of Deventer, until their withdrawal
in the summer of 1674. For portraits of the De Graeff family, see Portrait of Cornelis deGraeff, 1673, oil on canvas, 38.9 x 28.9 cm, Mauritshuis, The Hague, inv. 883;Portrait ofPieter de Graeff, ca. 1673, oil on copper, 36 x 29 cm, private collection; and Portrait of
Jacob de Graeff, 1673, oil on panel, 45.5 x 34.5 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. SKA-3963. The Portrait of Agneta Deutz (?) (formerly identified as Elisabeth Bicker vanSwieten) is known only through a copy (oil on canvas, 39 x 29 cm, present whereabouts
unknown). Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Geraert ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60),
2:226–28, nos. 262, 263, 265, and mentioned under 262a, respectively.
5. “Voor rekening van mijn broeder (Jacob) aen Gerard ter Borch aenbesteed sijn pourtraict
om dat te conterfeijten en soo veel daervoor te betaelen als oom Andries de Graeff voor ’t
conterfeitsel van sijn soon Cornelis de Graeff betaelt heeft.” Gemeentearchief, Amsterdam,Familiearchief de Graeff, no. 194; S. A. C. Dudok van Heel, “In presentie van de Heer
Gerard ter Borch,” in Essays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp
Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Anne Marie Logan (Doornspijk, 1983), 67.
6. The 1712 inventory of Andries de Graeff’s niece, Geertuyd Bicker, and her husband, JoanDeutz (both deceased), mentions several family portraits by or after Ter Borch, including“Conterfijtzel van Andries Graaff door Terbrugge, en vrouw, copy” and “Conterfijtzel vanCornelis de Graaf en sijn vrouw door Ter Brugge.” Gemeentearchief, Amsterdam, NAA
6670, fol. 597, nos. 14 and 32; Getty Provenance Index Databases, Record no. N-621.
© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
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Ariane van Suchtelen (in Portraits in the Mauritshuis, 1430–1790 , ed. Ariane van Suchtelen
and Ben Broos [Zwolle, 2004], 53) has linked the latter reference to Ter Borch’s portrait ofCornelis de Graeff, which in 1903 belonged to the Deutz van Assendelft family. Based on thefact that the portraits of Andries and Cornelis—as well as the copy after Ter Borch’s portraitof Agneta Deutz, previously thought to be a likeness of Elisabeth Bicker van Swieten—havevirtually identical (eighteenth-century) inscriptions, she has suggested that all three portraits
may share this early provenance. When and how the portrait(s) may have left the family’spossession is not known. The word “copy” at the end of the first listing probably refers to thewoman’s portrait only; compare no. 33 in the inventory, “Conterfijtzel van d’Heer Jan Deutszd’oude, copy, en Mevrouw, door Terbrugge.”
7. Horst Gerson, “Gerard ter Borch: Zur Ausstellung im Landesmuseum Münster,”
Kunstchronik 27, no. 2 (1974): 374. Netscher is not known to have made copies after
paintings by Ter Borch after leaving the latter’s studio. Interestingly, in 1674 Ter Borch wascommissioned by Pieter de Graeff to paint a copy after a portrait of Johan de Witt byNetscher; see S. A. C. Dudok van Heel, “In presentie van de Heer Gerard ter Borch,” inEssays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp Begemann on His
Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Anne Marie Logan (Doornspijk, 1983), 68, and Marjorie E. Wieseman,Caspar Netscher and Late Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting (Doornspijk, 2002), 239.
8. A. C. Dudok van Heel, “In presentie van de Heer Gerard ter Borch,” inEssays in Northern
European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday , ed.
Anne Marie Logan (Doornspijk, 1983), 67 n. 8, citing observations made by Bob Haak.
Indeed, texhnical examinations have revealed that pronounced cusping occurs at the bottom
but not on the other three edges.

ProvenanceGeorge Granville Sutherland-Levenson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland (1786–1861), YorkHouse, England, until 1846.1[1](George J. Morant, London).
(John Lewis Rutley, London, by whom sold to Frewen for £25, 1848).
Thomas Frewen (1811–70), Brickwall, Northiam, Sussex, 1848; by descent to Admiral Sir
John Byng Frewen, G. C. B. (1911–75), Northiam, Sussex; until ca. 1969.2[2](Sale, Sotheby’s Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 24 April 1978, no. 110).
Private collection, the Netherlands.
Private collection, Switzerland (sale, Sotheby’s, London, 11 April 1990, no. 41 [DavidKoetser Gallery, Zurich, 1990–91]).
© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
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Private collection (sale, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 18 May 2004, no. 31, unsold [SalomonLilian, B. V., Amsterdam, 2004]).
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2004.

Provenance Notes

1. A letter from the art dealer, cabinet- and framemaker George J. Morant to the Duke ofSutherland’s agent, Thomas Jackson, dated 23 March 1846 (Staffordshire Record Office,D593/P/22/4/4), offered to exchange a painting by Francesco Albani then in his possession
for ten paintings owned by the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, among which “TheTerburgh,” for £60 (probably An Officer Making His Bow to a Lady , now Polesden Lacey[National Trust], inv. 1246491) and “Do [ditto] Portrait” for £20. The latter probably refers tothe present picture, which had certainly left the collection by 1848. Other paintings identified
on the list, by Nicolaes Maes and Pieter de Hooch, are known to have left the Sutherland
collection in 1846.
2. Mentioned in the manuscript catalogue of the contents of Brickwall House, March 1851,
as hanging in the dining room, and described by Frewen: “This fine Terburgh was one of 11[sic] pictures bought by Rutley picture dealer Gt. Newport St from the Duke of Sutherland outof York House: the Duchess persuaded him to sell them in order to buy some grandfurniture!! I bought it of Rutley for 20 £ in 1848.” (East Sussex Record Office, FRE 8081). As
Morant’s firm also supplied furniture to the Duke of Sutherland, it is not clear exactly what theDuke and Duchess received in exchange for the pictures sold. The history of the painting’s
acquisition by Frewen and its presence in the Sutherland collection was reconstructed by
Lara Yeager-Crasselt, researcher at The Leiden Collection, with the assistance of Malinda
Law (Staffordshire Record Office) and Philip Bye (East Sussex Record Office).

Exhibition History
The Hague, Mauritshuis, “Gerard ter Borch, Zwolle 1617–Deventer 1681,” 9 March–28 April
1974; Münster, Landemuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, 12 May–23 June 1974, no.
56a [lent by a private collection].
Zurich, David Koetser, “Fine Old Master Paintings Principally of the Dutch and Flemish© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
Page 8 of 9Schools,” 1990–91, no. 24 [lent by a private collection].
Amsterdam, Amsterdam Historical Museum, “Kopstukken: Amsterdammers geportretteerd
1600–1800,” 10 October 2002–26 January 2003, no. 33 [lent by a private collection].

References
Langemeyer, G., ed. Gerard ter Borch, Zwolle 1617–Deventer 1681. Exh. cat. The Hague,Mauritshuis; Münster, Landesmusuem. Münster, 1974, 186–87, no. 56a.
Gerson, Horst. “Gerard ter Borch: Zur Ausstellung im Landesmuseum Münster.”
Kunstchronik 27, no. 2 (1974): 374.
Brown, Christopher. “Gerard ter Borch at The Hague and Münster.” Burlington Magazine
116 (May 1974): 291.
Dudok van Heel, S. A. C. “In presentie van de Heer Gerard ter Borch.” InEssays in Northern
European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday. Editedby Anne Marie Logan. Doornspijk, 1983, 67, n. 8.
Weber, G. J. M. “Dus leeft de dappre Graaf. Zu einem Bildnis Andries de Graeffs von Jan
Lievens (1607–1674).” Oud Holland 99 (1985): 48–49, no. 5, 55, n. 26.
Fine Old Master Paintings Principally of the Dutch and Flemish Schools. Exh. cat. Zurich,David Koetser. Zurich, 1990–91, no. 24.
Kettering, Alison McNeil. “Gerard ter Borch’s Portraits of the Deventer Elite.” Simiolus 27(1999): 67, n. 84.
De Bell, Wim and Middelkoop, Norbert . “Andries de Graeff, ca. 1673.” In Kopstukken:
Amsterdammers geportretteerd 1600–1800. Edited by Norbert Middelkoop. Exh. cat.
Amsterdam, Amsterdam Historical Museum. Bussum, 2002, 134–36, no. 33.
Van Suchtelen, Ariane. “Portrait of Cornelis de Graeff (1650–1678), 1673.” InPortraits in theMauritshuis, 1430–1790. Edited by Ariane van Suchtelen and Ben Broos. Zwolle, 2004,
51–55, no. 7.
Fusenig,Thomas.

Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum

Aachen:Bestandskatalog

derGemäldegalerie, Niederlande von 1550 bis 1800. Aachen and Munich, 2006, 39–40.
Vis, Pieter C. “Andries de Graeff, 1611–1678, ’t Gezagh is heerelyk: doch vol
bekommeringen.” Paper submitted to Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2010, 16, no. 20.

Versions© 2017 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Portrait of Andries de Graeff (1611–1678), Burgomaster ofAmsterdam
Page 9 of 9Engraved
1. Dated (incorrectly) and inscribed with the name of the sitter at the upper left:Andries deGraeff / lxiii Jaer /M.D.C. LXXIIIIVersions and Copies
1. After Gerard ter Borch, Andries de Graeff, oil on canvas, 42 x 34.5 cm, Suermondt-Ludwig
Museum, Aachen, inv. no. GK 509.

2. Studio of Gerard ter Borch, Andries de Graeff, oil on canvas, 39 x 29 cm, Musée des BeauxArts, Dijon, no. CA T 63.

Versions Notes

Technical Summary
The support, a single piece of fine-weight, plain-weave fabric with tacking margins removed, hasbeen lined. The horizontal threads slope downward when viewed from left to right, and there ispronounced cusping along the lower edge only. There are inscriptions identifying the sitter but nowax collection seals, stencils or import stamps along the lining canvas or stretcher.
A light-colored, radio-opaque ground has been thinly and evenly applied. The paint has been
applied with loose, fluid brushstrokes in thin, smooth glazes with no use of impasto or raised
brushwork.
The painting is unsigned but is dated (incorrectly) and inscribed with the sitter’s name in parallel
strokes of highlight and shadow along the upper left corner.
No underdrawing is readily apparent in infrared images captured at 780–1000 nanometers. Theinfrared images, the X-radiograph, and a pentimento suggest the middle finger of the figure’s
proper left hand was originally depicted shorter, similar in length to the pointer.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2004 and remains in a good state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes© 2017 The Leiden Collection