Catalogue entry
REMBRANDT VAN RIJN, 1606–1669
1675 Portrait of Margaretha de Geer, Wife of Jacob Trip
, 1991
Extracted from:
Neil MacLaren; revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, The Dutch School 1600–1900 (London: National Gallery Publications Limited, 1991).
Rembrandt, Portrait of Margaretha de Geer, Wife of Jacob Trip (No. 1675) © The National Gallery, London
Oil on canvas, 130.5 × 97.5 cm (51⅜ × 38 3⁄5); lower edge irregular.
Cleaned in 1955. There is an area of damage between the right arm of the chair and the edge of the picture.
PENTIMENTI: There are a number of important pentimenti. The most notable change is in the position of the sitter’s left hand. It was first painted side‐on, thumb and forefinger showing, resting in her lap; then resting on the arm of the chair to the right of the present position; and finally, as we see it now. These earlier positions can be seen clearly in the X‐radiograph, the evidence of which is confirmed by cross‐sections.1 The ruff was also altered more than once: at first it was tilted more towards the viewer. The X‐radiograph reveals that the sitter’s white cuffs were originally trimmed with lace and that the handkerchief had a slightly different shape.
Study of the cusping in the X‐radiograph shows that this portrait, like its companion (No. 1674), has been trimmed at all four edges, the largest loss being at the right edge. Both paintings were trimmed to the same size and it is most likely that both were reduced at the same time.
The canvas has a double ground identical to that of No. 1674 and, as in that painting, it is likely that the canvases were grounded in Rembrandt’s studio.2
Discussion
Margaretha de Geer, daughter of Louis de Geer, was born in Liège, 10 November 1583; the de Geer family left Liège in 1595, settling first in Aachen and then in Dordrecht. Margaretha married Jacob Trip in 1603 and died in Dordrecht in 1672. She was the sister of Louis de Geer the Younger, the great armaments dealer.3
[page 1.353]For the identification of the sitter see No. 1674 above.
Six other portraits of Margaretha de Geer are known; three by Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (one dated 1649 and the others [see Fig. 83] dated 1651),4 two by Nicolaes Maes5 and one attributed to Rembrandt (No. 5282 below).
Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, Portrait of Margaretha Trip. Panel, 74 × 59 cm. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum inv. SK-A-611 inv. SK-A-611. (See Rembrandt No. 1675.) Photo: Amsertdam, Rijksmuseum
The picture is in the same style as the companion portrait (No. 1674 above) and was presumably also painted about 1661. The sitter’s gown and ruff are in a style which came into fashion more than forty years earlier.
A drawing by Rembrandt in the Boymans‐van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam,6 has been supposed to represent the same woman; the resemblance is slight and the identification excluded by the style of the drawing which is of c. 1640 or earlier whereas the woman in it appears to be almost as old as the sitter in the present portrait.
COPY: According to HdG a copy was in an Anon, sale, London, 15 February 1904.7
PROVENANCE: See No. 1674 above.
EXHIBITIONS: BI 1837, No. 121;8 BI 1858, No. 102;9 London 1976, No. 95; London 1988–9, No. 17.
REFERENCES:
General: Smith Supplement No. 14; Moes No. 2659; Bode and HdG , vol. 7, No. 493; HdG No. 857; Bauch No. 523; Bredius, Rembrandt, No. 394.
In text:
1. For a full technical description see London 1988–9, pp. 126–9. (Back to text.)
2. For a detailed discussion of the ground, see London 1988–9, pp. 126, 128. (Back to text.)
3. HdG in OH , vol. 45, 1928, p. 255; NNBW , vol. 10. (Back to text.)
4. (a) Aix Museum (1900 catalogue, No. 248). Signed and dated 1649 and inscribed: Ætatis 65. Companion of the portrait of Jacob Trip now in the Haverkamp‐Begemann collection, New York (see No. 1674 above, note 4). (b) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1976 cat., A611. Signed and dated 1651 and inscribed: Ætatis. 66. (c) Formerly in the collection of HdG . Replica of the Rijksmuseum portrait. Signed and dated 1651 and inscribed: Ætatis 66. Reproduced in OH , 1928, p. 257. (Back to text.)
5. Budapest Museum (1967 catalogue, No. 231). A version or copy was formerly in the collection of Baron van Wassenaer van Katwijk, Nederhemert Castle; companion to the portrait mentioned in No. 1674 above, note 6(c); destroyed in 1944 (reproduced in De monumenten van geschiedenis en kunst in de Provincie Gelderland, vol. 1, i, 1932, p. 119). (Back to text.)
6. Benesch, vol. 4, No. 757 and fig. 958. H. R. Hoetink has identified the sitter as Margaretha de Geer while accepting Benesch’s dating of 1635–40. He also identifies a further head on a sheet of studies in the Fogg Museum as the same sitter (H. R. Hoetink, ‘Nog een portret van Margaretha de Geer’, Miscellana I. Q. van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam, 1969, p. 150–1). Benesch (No. A10) dates the sheet to the first half of the 1630s. (Back to text.)
7. According to HdG (No. 857) it was lot 80 but this was a genre scene attributed to Piazzetta; he was presumably referring to lot 79: ‘Rembrandt Portrait of a lady, in dark dress, with ruff'; 43 × 7 in.; bought by Cohen. (Back to text.)
8. It is described in the BI catalogue as ‘Head of an elderly Female’ but its identity with No. 1675 is established by the description in Smith Supplement (1842) No. 14. (Back to text.)
9. As ‘Rembrandt’s Mother’. (Back to text.)
Abbreviations
- NNBW
- Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, 10 vols, Leiden, 1911–37
- OH
- Oud Holland, Amsterdam, 1883—1972, The Hague, 1973–
3 Other Abbreviations
- BI
- British Institution, London
List of references cited
- Aix 1900
- Catalogue du musée d'Aix, 1900
- Bauch 1966
- Bauch, K., Rembrandt Gemälde, Berlin 1966
- Benesch 1973
- Benesch, O., The Drawings of Rembrandt, 6 vols, second edition, London 1973
- Bode and Hofstede de Groot 1897–1906
- Bode, W. and C. Hofstede de Groot, The Complete Work of Rembrandt, 8 vols, Paris 1897–1906
- Bomford, Brown and Roy 1988
- Bomford, David, Christopher Brown, Ashok Roy, with contributions from Jo Kirby and Raymond White, Art in the Making: Rembrandt, London 1988
- Bredius 1969
- Bredius, A., revised by H. Gerson, Rembrandt, third edition, London 1969
- Davies 1959
- Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The British School, revised edn, London 1959
- Davies and Gould 1970
- Davies, Martin, revised by Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post‐Impressionists, etc., London 1970
- Gelderland 1932
- De monumenten van geschiedenis en kunst in de Provincie Gelderland, 1932, 1, i
- Hoetink 1969
- Hoetink, H.R., ‘Nog een portret van Margaretha de Geer’, in Miscellana I. Q. van Regteren Altena, Amsterdam 1969
- Hofstede de Groot 1907–28
- Hofstede de Groot, C., Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols (vols 9 and 10 are in German), London, Stuttgart and Paris 1907–28
- Moes 1897–1905
- Moes, E.W., Iconographia Batava …, 2 vols, Amsterdam 1897–1905
- Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek
- Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, 10 vols, Leiden 1911–37
- Smith 1829–42
- Smith, John, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters … (with Supplement), 9 vols, London 1829–42
List of exhibitions cited
- Amsterdam 1976
- Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Tot Lering en Vermaak: Betekenissen van Hollandse genrevoorstellingen uit de zeventiende eeuw, 1976
- London 1837
- London, British Institution, 1837
- London 1858
- London, British Institution, 1858
- London 1976
- London, National Gallery, Art in Seventeenth–Century Holland, 1976
- London 1988–9, National Gallery
- London, National Gallery, Art in the Making: Rembrandt, 12 October 1988–17 January 1989 (exh. cat.: Bomford, Brown and Roy 1988)
Explanatory Notes on the Catalogue
SEQUENCE The paintings are arranged alphabetically according to the name of the artist or school.
ATTRIBUTION A picture catalogued under the name of the artist is considered to be by him. ‘Attributed to’ qualifies the attribution. ‘Ascribed to’ indicates a greater degree of doubt. ‘Workshop of’ or ‘Follower of’ are self‐explanatory. ‘Style of’ indicates that the painting is an imitation or copy painted after the artist’s lifetime. A list of attributions which have been changed from the first edition of this catalogue (published in 1960) is given on pages 510–13.
INVENTORY NUMBER The National Gallery inventory number is to be found to the left of the picture title.
MEASUREMENTS These are given in centimetres, followed by inches in brackets. Height precedes width.
RIGHT and LEFT These indicate the viewer’s right and left, unless the context clearly implies the contrary.
BIOGRAPHIES MacLaren’s biographical notes on painters have been expanded and brought up to date when there is no accessible and reliable modern literature. Where such literature exists, these notes have been kept to a minimum.
REFERENCES The bibliographical references, though selective, include publications which appeared before mid‐1989. References to books and articles which appeared subsequently and which the author considered to be of importance are referred to within square brackets but could not be taken into account in the catalogue entries themselves.
LISTS AND INDEXES At the back of this volume are lists of paintings acquired since the last edition of this catalogue and changed attributions. There are also indexes to religious subjects, profane subjects, topography, previous owners, years of acquisition and inventory number.
ILLUSTRATIONS The plates of the paintings included in the catalogue are in the second volume, together with all the signatures which could be reproduced. The comparative plates are included in Volume 1.
[page 1.xiv]VAN ‘van’ has been used in lower case throughout in accordance with The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors. The ‘van’ has been omitted for certain artists as is customary, e.g. ‘Jacob van Ruisdael’, but ‘Ruisdael’.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ‘ op. cit. ’ may refer back to books and articles referred to under the artist’s biography (rather than in the particular catalogue entry).
CHRISTIE’S AND SOTHEBY’S Unless another location is mentioned, the sales referred to took place in London.
CLEANING The cleaning of paintings which took place before 1945 is not referred to, unless the circumstances were exceptional.
CONDITION All the paintings have been examined during the preparation of this catalogue. In many cases the condition is described, sometimes in considerable detail. If the condition is not described, the painting can be presumed to be in good condition.
PROVENANCE AND EXHIBITIONS There are separate headings for provenance and exhibitions in individual catalogue
entries. In certain cases, when nineteenth‐century paintings were included in dealers’
exhibitions for example, these two sections have been conflated
,
.
VAN GOGH The National Gallery’s four paintings by Van Gogh (Inv. nos. 3861, 3862, 3863 and 4169) are not catalogued in this volume but in The French School by Cecil Gould.
CORNELIUS JOHNSON The one painting (Inv. no. 6280) in the National Gallery by Johnson, who was born in London of Dutch parents but moved to the Netherlands after the outbreak of the Civil War, is not included in this catalogue but in The British School by Martin Davies.
Explanatory note
This volume contains the illustrations for the catalogue of the Dutch School published in Volume 1.
The pictures and their attributions are discussed in detail in the catalogue; in this volume only the title, the artist (or attribution) and the inventory number are given.
At the end of the volume are plates of all the signatures that could be reproduced. In the interest of clarity some of these have been enlarged.
About this version
Version 2, generated from files NM_CB_1991__16.xml dated 17/02/2025 and database__16.xml dated 16/02/2025 using stylesheet 16_teiToHtml_externalDb.xsl dated 03/01/2025. Entries for NG212, NG221, NG830, NG871, NG990, NG1674, NG1675, NG2531, NG4503, NG6350, NG6442, NG6444 and NG64835 proofread following mark-up and corrected.
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- Permalink (this version)
- https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEI-000B-0000-0000
- Permalink (latest version)
- https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DCO-000B-0000-0000
- Chicago style
- MacLaren, Neil and Christopher Brown. “1675 Portrait of Margaretha de Geer, Wife of Jacob Trip”. 1991, online version 2, February 17, 2025. https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEI-000B-0000-0000.
- Harvard style
- MacLaren, Neil and Brown, Christopher (1991) 1675 Portrait of Margaretha de Geer, Wife of Jacob Trip. Online version 2, London: National Gallery, 2025. Available at: https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEI-000B-0000-0000 (Accessed: 26 March 2025).
- MHRA style
- MacLaren, Neil and Christopher Brown, 1675 Portrait of Margaretha de Geer, Wife of Jacob Trip (National Gallery, 1991; online version 2, 2025) <https://data.ng.ac.uk/0DEI-000B-0000-0000> [accessed: 26 March 2025]