The portraits of Salomon Mesdach (ca. 1575/1580-1628) are characterized by a high degree of refinement. As a portrait painter, he was an important figure on the Middelburg art market in the early seventeenth century. Yet his work has remained largely unnoticed. Recent research for this first monographic exhibition on Mesdach sheds new light on the life and work of this unknown but beloved master.
Salomon Mesdach (ca. 1575/80-1628), Portrait of Guillaum Sweerts, his wife Gillina van Vlierden, their four children and her parents, 1612
Haags Historisch Museum, The Hague (on long-term loan to the Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg)
The only known work signed and dated by Mesdach is a 1612 family portrait included in the exhibition. Based on stylistic and technical research, a group of portraits can be linked to this painting. Together, these works form the core of Mesdach’s oeuvre, from which the special quality of his portraits emerges. Especially for this exhibition, four of Mesdach’s child portraits have been reunited after being separated by inheritance. Also on display is a beautiful portrait of a girl, which has been added to the artist’s oeuvre for the first time.
The exhibition also pays great attention to the sumptuous clothing and jewelry that adorned the sitters. Thus, in addition to the portraits, jewelry, clothing accessories, and lace from Mesdach’s time are on view.
Also on exhibited are two contemporary photographic portraits by the exhibition’s curator and author of the accompanying publication, Carla van de Puttelaar. She was inspired by the work of Salomon Mesdach and incorporated an early seventeenth-century hair needle and an eighteenth-century rattle into the works.
The exhibition features works from the collections of the Rijksmuseum, the Markiezenhof, the National Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE), the Zeeuws Museum and private individuals.
The exhibition catalogue is written by Carla van de Puttelaar and published by WBooks (ISBN 9789462586765).