Govaert Flinck(Kleve 1615 – 1660 Amsterdam)

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Bakker, Piet. "Govaert Flinck." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New
York, 2017.
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Govaert Flinck was born in the German city of Kleve, not far from the Dutch city of Nijmegen, on 25 January
1615. His merchant father, Teunis Govaertsz Flinck, was clearly prosperous, because in 1625 he wasappointed steward of Kleve, a position reserved for men of stature.[1] That Govaert would become a painterwas not apparent in his early years; in fact, according to Houbraken, the odds were against his pursuit ofthat interest. Teunis considered such a career unseemly and apprenticed Govaert to a cloth merchant.
Govaert, however, never stopped drawing, and a fortunate incident changed his fate. According to
Houbraken, “Lambert Jacobsz, [a] Mennonite, or Baptist teacher of Leeuwarden in Friesland, came topreach in Kleve and visit his fellow believers in the area.”[2] Lambert Jacobsz (ca. 1598–1636) was also afamous Mennonite painter, and he persuaded Flinck’s father that the artist’s profession was a respectableone.
Around 1629, Govaert accompanied Lambert to Leeuwarden to train as a painter.[3] In Lambert’s workshop
Flinck met the slightly older Jacob Adriaensz Backer (1608–51), with whom he became lifelong friends.
Both later moved to Amsterdam, where Backer established his own studio around 1633. According to
Houbraken, Flinck then decided to “train with Rembrandt for a year with the aim of becoming accustomed
to his handling of paint and way of painting, and in which he rapidly became so successful at imitating themthat a number of his works were mistaken for real paintings by Rembrandt and sold as such.”[4]It was long believed that Flinck left Leeuwarden in 1633, but recent research on the art dealer Hendrik
Uylenburgh (ca. 1584/89–1661) suggests that late 1634 or early 1635 is more likely.[5] If Flinck spent a yearwith Rembrandt to master his style, this apprenticeship would have taken place in the SintAntoniebreestraat, where Rembrandt ran Uylenburgh’s workshop from 1631 to 1635. When Rembrandt left
Uylenburgh to start his own studio in the Nieuwe Doelenstraat, Flinck took over for him either in late 1635 or
early 1636. Just how long he worked for Uylenburgh is not known, but it was probably several years. In
1637, after buying some prints at auction, Flinck gave Uylenburgh’s shop as his address.
Once he had become independent, Flinck immediately benefited from an extensive and affluent circle ofcustomers. His mother was the sister of the Amsterdam cloth merchant Jacob Leeuw, and Flinck painted
the portraits of almost every member of Leeuw’s family. Moreover, because the Leeuw family was related to© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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the Amsterdam Mennonite elite through a number of marriages, Flinck found an important Mennonite
clientele beyond his immediate family. When the prosperous cloth merchant Jan Pietersz Bruyningh died in
1646, he owned no fewer than eight paintings by Flinck.[6]The year 1645 marked several significant changes for Flinck. In the summer he married the Remonstrant
Ingetje Thovelingh (ca. 1620–51) of Rotterdam, daughter of a wealthy director of the Dutch East India
Company. Flinck, too, was not without means. In 1644 he had bought two adjacent houses in Amsterdam’s
Lauriergracht for the princely sum of 10,000 guilders. Shortly after he married, he built in this complex “alarge painting gallery with high windows … on the upper ledges of which stood busts of the emperors, many
handsome casts of the finest Antique marbles, and, hanging in between, all kinds of exotic robes, garments,
harnesses, rifles, and swords; also old expensive velvet, and other gold-embroidered decorations.”[7] This
ensemble was so extraordinary that Jan Vos dedicated a poem to it.[8]Another major change involved his style of painting. For a long time after he had trained with Rembrandt,
Flinck painted in a manner that was almost indistinguishable from that of his master. When in the early
1640s the bon ton among the Amsterdam elite was to have oneself portrayed in the academic style blowing
in from Flanders at the time, Flinck decided to adapt to the new fashion. Weaning himself from Rembrandt’s
style proved difficult.[9] Flinck ultimately succeeded extraordinarily well in this, especially after he studied theworks of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) on a trip to Antwerp shortly
before his wedding, probably around 1645.[10]To a certain extent, the year 1645 also signaled Flinck’s definitive breakthrough among members of the
Amsterdam patriciate. Flinck was no longer dependent on his family and its connections for commissions;
he now had access to the highest social circles. As early as 1642 he had painted his first group portrait,
namely of the four regents of the Kloveniersdoelen.[11] In 1645 he was awarded an even more prestigious
commission from the same civic guard to paint the portraits of the company of Captain Albert Bas andLieutenant Lucas Conijn.[12] A regular buyer of his work was the famous burgomaster Joan Huydecoper(1599–1661), whose company of militiamen Flinck portrayed to commemorate the Peace of Münster.[13]According to Houbraken, Flinck also received commissions from the brothers Pieter (1612–80) and Jan Six(1618–1700), the latter of whom later became burgomaster. In 1655, for example, Flinck painted theportrait of Jan Six’s wife, Margaretha Tulp (1634–1709), the daughter of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.[14] Flinck also
maintained a close friendship with the “Lord mayors Cornelis and Andries de Graeff.” According to
Houbraken, “the latter visited [Flinck] at home on many occasions; and he was so familiar with the former
that in the evening, tired from painting, he often went to visit him uninvited.”[15] The patronage of the De
Graeff family was also expressed in Flinck’s painting of Andries.[16]Flinck’s fame was not confined to Amsterdam. He maintained ties with his native Kleve, where he received
honorable and lucrative commissions from Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Kleve.
William Frederick married Louise Henriette of Orange, the eldest daughter of Stadholder Frederik Hendrik,in Kleve in 1646, and two years later Flinck painted an allegory for them on the occasion of the birth of theirson, Prince William Henry.[17] According to Houbraken, many of the decorations in the artist’s painting
gallery on the Lauriergracht came “from the old court of the Duke of Kleve,” whose great favor Flinck© 2017 The Leiden Collection

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enjoyed.[18] This royal patron, whose likeness Flinck painted in 1652,[19] was so delighted by the master’sachievements that he presented him with a miniature portrait of himself encircled with diamonds.”
Flinck also painted on several occasions Count Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen (1604–79), who on his
return from Brazil was made stadholder of Kleve by William Frederick.[21] It would have been through these
influential patrons that Flinck was introduced to the court in The Hague. Hence, in 1654, he received an
important commission from Amalia von Solms to paint an allegory in memory of her husband, Stadholder
Frederik Hendrik, who had died in 1647, to hang in her “grote cabinet” (large cabinet) in Huis ten Bosch
Palace.[22]Flinck’s most important commissions, however, came from Amsterdam. As a protégé of the De Graeffbrothers, Flinck benefited greatly from the commissions to decorate the new city hall on Dam Square.
Hence, in 1656 he painted the monumental Consul Manius Curius Dentatus Refusing the Gifts of theSamnites[23] and, in 1658, an even larger picture of Solomon Praying for Wisdom for the council
chamber.[24] In November 1659, at the height of his fame, Flinck received his most distinguishedcommission, namely to paint twelve works for the gallery of the town hall, known as the Batavian Series, inwhich he agreed to produce two canvases a year for 1000 guilders each. Two months later, on 2 February
1660, before he had really begun working on this commission, Flinck died.[25]In the several years before his death, Flinck’s personal circumstances had changed dramatically. In 1651,
five years after the birth of their son Nicolaes Anthonis (1646–1723) and after a long illness, Ingetje
Thovelingh died of dropsy. That same year Flinck joined the Remonstrant community. He remained awidower for five years before marrying Sofia van der Houven of Ghent in 1656. Joost van den Vondel wrote
a poem celebrating this marriage in which he eulogized Flinck’s artistic prowess.[26] The inventory of
Flinck’s possessions made shortly after his death reveals that he bequeathed a considerable fortune ofmore than 44,000 guilders to his son, Nicolaes Anthonis, including an exquisite collection of paintings,
many of which were by him.
-Piet Bakker

Endnotes
1. Unless stated otherwise, the information in this biography is taken from Petra Jeroense,“Govaert Flinck (1615–1660): Eine Künstlerbiographie,” Niederdeutsche Beiträge zur
Kunstgeschichte 63 (1997): 73–112.
2. “Een Lambert Jacobze, Mennonist, of Doopsgezind Leeraar te Leuwaerden in Frieslant, komt
te Kleef prediken en zyne Geloofsgenooten daar omstreeks bezoeken.” Arnold Houbraken, De
groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen , 3 vols. (Amsterdam,
1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 2:20.

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3. On Lambert Jacobsz, see M. van der Meij-Tolsma, “Lambert Jacobsz (c. 1598–1636): Een
Amsterdamse historieschilder te Leeuwarden,” De Zeventiende Eeuw 4 (1998): 29–54; Piet
Bakker, “Een schilder en zijn netwerk: Lambert Jacobsz en een nieuw beeld van de zeventiendeeeuwse schilderkunst in Friesland,” De Vrije Fries 88 (2008): 31–64.
4. “Een Jaar by Rembrandt te gaan leeren; ten einde hy zig die behandeling der verwen en wyze
van schilderen gewendde, welke hy in dien korten tyd zoodanig heeft weten na te bootzen dat
verscheiden van zyne stukken voor echte penceelwerken van Rembrandt wierden aangezien en
verkocht.” Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam,
1980), 2:19–20.
5. Jaap van der Veen, “Het kunstbedrijf van Hendrick Uylenburgh in Amsterdam: Productie en
handel tussen 1625 en 1655,” in Friso Lammertse and Jaap van der Veen,Uylenburgh & Zoon:
kunst en commercie van Rembrandt tot De Lairesse 1625–1675 (Zwolle, 2006), 160.
6. S.A.C. Dudok van Heek, “Doopsgezinden en schilderkunst in de 17e eeuw – Leerlingen,opdrachtgevers en verzamelaars van Rembrandt,” Doopsgezinde Bijdragen 6 (1980): 105–23;
E. Kok, “Zonder vrienden geen carrière: De succesvolle loopbanen van de zeventiende-eeuwse
kunstenaars Govert Flinck en Ferdinand Bol,” De Zeventiende Eeuw 27 (2011): 314.
7. “Een groote schilderzaal met hooge lichten … op welker bovenlyst de Borstbeelden derKeyseren geplaatst stonden, vorder vele fraje afgietsels naar de geachtste marmere Antiquen,en tusschen beide met velerhande vremde gewaden, kleederen, harnassen, schiet- en
steekgeweer behangen; als ook oude kostelyke fluweele, en andere met goud geborduurde
behangsels.” Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam,
1980), 2:22; S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, “Het ‘schilderhuis’ van Govaert Flinck en de kunsthandel
van Uylenburch aan de Lauriersgracht te Amsterdam,” Jaarboek van het Genootschap
Amstelodamum 74 (1982): 70–78.
8. Jan Vos, Alle de Gedichten van (Amsterdam, 1727) 319–20; quoted in S.A.C. Dudok vanHeel, “Het ‘schilderhuis’ van Govert Flinck en de kunsthandel van Uylenburgh aan deLauriergracht te Amsterdam,” Jaarboek van het Genootschap Amstelodamum 74 (1982): 73.
9. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam,
1980), 2:21.

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10. J. Bruyn, “Book Review: Sumowski’s Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, II ,” Oud-Holland
101 (1987): 226. Bruyn dates a journey to Antwerp to “around 1645” and substantiates this datewith Flinck’s Bust of an Old Man (Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vierBänden, 6 vols. [Landau, 1983], 2:1035, no. 682) and Portrait of a Man (ibid., 2:1038, no. 700),
both dated 1645, which Bruyn regards as Flinck’s first departure from Rembrandt’s style.
11. The Four Regents of the Arquebusiers Civic Guard , oil on canvas 203 x 278 cm, signed anddated 1642, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. J. W. von Moltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660)(Amsterdam, 1965), 166, no. 475; Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vierBänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 2:1040, no. 714.
12. The Company of Albert Bas and Lucas Conijn , oil on canvas, 341 x 244 cm, signed anddated 1645, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. J. W. von Moltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660)(Amsterdam, 1965), 167, no. 477; Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vierBänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 2:1041, no. 715.
13. Civic Guardsmen of the Company of Captain Joan Huydecoper and Lieutenant Frans van
Waveren, oil on canvas, 265 x 513 cm., signed and dated 1648, Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Museum, inv. no. SA 7318.J. W. von Moltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965),
166, no. 476; Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden , 6 vols.
(Landau, 1983), 2:1041, no. 717.
14. Oil on canvas, 138 x 103.5 cm, signed and dated 1655, Gemäldegalerie, Kassel. J. W. vonMoltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 149, no. 401; Werner Sumowski,
Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden , 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 5:1983, 3101, no.
2088.
15. “Heeren Borgemeesteren Kornelis en Andries de Graeff … komende de laatste hem dikwils tezynen huize bezoeken; en by den eerst gemelden was hy zoo gemeenzaam in den ommegang,
dat hy dikwils des avonds moede van schilderen, ongenood hem ging bezoeken.” Arnold
Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen , 3 vols.
(Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 2:20.
16. Oil on canvas, ca. 1655, 45 x 37 cm, T. Kaida Collection, Tokyo. J. W. von Moltke,Govaert
Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 107, no. 205; not in Sumowski.
17. Oil on canvas, 1648, 111.5 x 82.5 cm, Neues Palais, Potsdam; J. W. von Moltke,Govaert
Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 39, 92, no. 120; Werner Sumowski, Gemälde derRembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 2:1025, no. 631.
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18. “Uit het oude Hof van den Hartog van Kleef.” Arnold Houbraken,De groote schouburgh der
Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The
Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 2:22. An indication that Flinck had worked for theelector previously is found in the diary of Frisian Stadholder William Henry (1613–64). When hespent the summers of 1647 and 1648 at the elector’s court in Kleve, he noted three times that hehad had himself portrayed in the “schilderhuys” (painter’s house), unfortunately without
mentioning by whom. One or more of these sittings may have been for the portrait by Flinck(which can no longer be identified) of Stadholder William Frederick, oil on panel, 75 x 63 cm. J.
W. von Moltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 110, no. 215. J. Visser, ed.,Gloria Parendi: Dagboeken van Willem Frederik, Stadhouder van Friesland, Groningen en
Drente, 1643–1649, 1651–1654 (The Hague, 1995), 432, 433, 543.
19. Oil on canvas, 97.4 x 72.7 cm, signed and dated 1652, Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin; J. W.
von Moltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 106, no. 198; Werner Sumowski,
Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 2:1039, no. 705.
20. “dat hy zyn pourtret met Diamenaten omzet aan hem vereerde.” Arnold Houbraken, De
groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen , 3 vols. (Amsterdam,
1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 2:22
21. Flinck painted Johan Maurits in 1653 and 1658. Neither portrait can now be found. The
painting from 1653 is known solely from a print by Cornelis van Dalen. Only a copy exists of thesecond; see J. W. von Moltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 110, no. 120.
22. Allegory in Memory of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange, with a Portrait of His Widow
Amalia von Solms, oil on canvas, 307 x 189 cm, signed and dated 1654, Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam; J. W. von Moltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 92, no. 118;
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden , 6 vols. (Landau, 1983),
2:1025, no. 636. See also: Peter van der Ploeg and Carola Vermeeren,Princely Patrons: The
Collection of Frederick Henry of Orange and Amalia of Solms (Exh. cat. The Hague,
Mauritshuis) (Zwolle, 1997), 128–31, no. 8.
23. Oil on canvas, 485 x 377 cm, signed and dated 1656, Royal Palace, Amsterdam; J. W. vonMoltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 90, no. 113; Werner Sumowski,
Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 2:1026, no. 638.
24. Oil on canvas, 465 x 450 cm, signed and dated 1658, Royal Palace, Amsterdam; J. W. vonMoltke, Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) (Amsterdam, 1965), 71, no. 30; Werner Sumowski,
Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 2:1027, no. 640.
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25. For the historical context of this commission, see M. Van Eikema Hommes and E. Froment,“Een doek van geene beteekenis: De nachtelijke samenzwering van Claudius Civilis in het
Schakerbos van Govert Flinck en Jürgen Ovens technisch onderzocht,” Oud-Holland 124(2011): 144–49.
26. J.F.M. Sterck, De Werken van Vondel (Amsterdam, 1935), 8:199.

Literature
Houbraken, Arnold. De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen. 3 vols. Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint,
Amsterdam, 1980, 2:18–27.
Von Moltke, J. W. Govaert Flinck (1615–1660). Amsterdam, 1965.
Dudok van Heel, S.A.C. “Het ‘schilderhuis’ van Govaert Flinck en de kunsthandel van
Uylenburch aan de Lauriersgracht te Amsterdam.” Jaarboek van het Genootschap
Amstelodamum 74 (1982): 70–90.
Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden. 6 vols. Landau, 1983,
2:998–1151; 5:3097–101; 6:3707–12.
Jeroense, P. “Govaert Flinck (1615–1660): Eine Künstlerbiographie.” Niederdeutsche
Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte 63 (1997): 73–112.
Lammertse, F. and Van der Veen, J. Uylenburgh & Zoon: kunst en commercie vanRembrandt tot De Lairesse 1625–1675. Zwolle, 2006.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection