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DOI Artikel:Kozak, Anna; De Herdt, Jan [Ill.]: Jan de Herdt, a forgotten 17th century Flemish painter
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18902#0092
44. Jan de Herdt, Finding of tlie Holy Cross, oil on canvas, Holy Cross Church, Znojmo
and dated I. D. Herdt f. 1672, was sold at an auction at the Dorotheum in Yienna. I have not
been able, however, either to corne by a photograpb of tbe picture or obtain any other morę
precise data. It is the only known work by Herdt executed in the 1670s. His later paintings of
which we have inforination come from the 1680s. In that period, we find Herdt in Trebic where
he was most probably invited by Frantisek Augustin Waldstein, the owner of the local castle
in 1667—1684. A Knight of Malta, one of the foremost representatives of the Waldstein seigniory,
presumably summoned the artist to paint portraits for the family gallery, of which task he
acąuitted himself producing the images of Frantisek Waldstein76 (signed I. D. IIERDT, Fig. 40)
and his wife Zbynka77 (Fig. 41), dated at about 1680. They show the models in fuli length, in
standing positions, three quarters to the spectator. Their rich clothing and the somewhat rigid
rendering of the figures underline the representational character of the images. The portrait of
the małe sitter, of a somewhat higher class, is apparcntly modelled on van Dyck’s paintings,
Especially the armour-bearer holding the horse evokes associations with the famous portrait
of the English King Charles I. Yet the posturę of Herdt’s model lacks the soft and natural quali-
ties characteristic of van Dyck’s hero. In its colour-scheme, the portrait is reminiscent of the
76. Oil on canvas, 225 X 159 cm, inv. no. 400 118. A. Bartusek, Umelecke pamatky Trebice, Brno, 1969, p. 74. Fig. 35.
77. Oil on canvas, 235x165 cm, inv. no. 400 116. Ibid.,p. 75. I am grateful to Dr Pavel Mazourek of the ZapadomoraVsk6
Museum in Trebic for kind, comprehensive help with my resaerch on the Trebic paintings.
82
and dated I. D. Herdt f. 1672, was sold at an auction at the Dorotheum in Yienna. I have not
been able, however, either to corne by a photograpb of tbe picture or obtain any other morę
precise data. It is the only known work by Herdt executed in the 1670s. His later paintings of
which we have inforination come from the 1680s. In that period, we find Herdt in Trebic where
he was most probably invited by Frantisek Augustin Waldstein, the owner of the local castle
in 1667—1684. A Knight of Malta, one of the foremost representatives of the Waldstein seigniory,
presumably summoned the artist to paint portraits for the family gallery, of which task he
acąuitted himself producing the images of Frantisek Waldstein76 (signed I. D. IIERDT, Fig. 40)
and his wife Zbynka77 (Fig. 41), dated at about 1680. They show the models in fuli length, in
standing positions, three quarters to the spectator. Their rich clothing and the somewhat rigid
rendering of the figures underline the representational character of the images. The portrait of
the małe sitter, of a somewhat higher class, is apparcntly modelled on van Dyck’s paintings,
Especially the armour-bearer holding the horse evokes associations with the famous portrait
of the English King Charles I. Yet the posturę of Herdt’s model lacks the soft and natural quali-
ties characteristic of van Dyck’s hero. In its colour-scheme, the portrait is reminiscent of the
76. Oil on canvas, 225 X 159 cm, inv. no. 400 118. A. Bartusek, Umelecke pamatky Trebice, Brno, 1969, p. 74. Fig. 35.
77. Oil on canvas, 235x165 cm, inv. no. 400 116. Ibid.,p. 75. I am grateful to Dr Pavel Mazourek of the ZapadomoraVsk6
Museum in Trebic for kind, comprehensive help with my resaerch on the Trebic paintings.
82