Jan Gildemeester Jansz. (

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, 1744 – Amsterdam, 1799) was a Dutch art collector.

Biography

Jan Gerard Waldorp - The Gildemeester family near their summer home in Watergraafsmeer

Jan's parents had moved to the Netherlands a few years after the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...

. He lived with his father in a house on the Keizersgracht in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, where he began to form an art collection. He was involved in whaling and in 1778 was appointed as Portugal's agent and consul general to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

. Also in 1778 he donated nearly one hundred thousand guilders for

Felix Meritis Felix Meritis ("Happy through Merit") is the name of an intellectual society in Amsterdam, but subsequently used for the building they built for themselves on the Keizersgracht. History It was built according to a winning design by the arc ...

's house. In 1779 he inherited his father's country seat Frankendael in Watergraafsmeer - when a tree of liberty was placed (the ground was frozen too hard to plant it) on the Dam in Amsterdam in January 1795, it came from Gildemeester's garden. In 1792 he bought the prestigious stone-clad double canal mansion in the

Gouden Bocht The Gouden Bocht (English: "Golden Bend") is the most prestigious part of the Herengracht in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat. Until 1663 the Herengracht reached as far as the present Leidsegracht. From that year o ...

at 475

Herengracht The Herengracht () is the second of four Amsterdam canals belonging to the canal belt and lies between the Singel and the Keizersgracht. The Gouden Bocht (Golden Bend) in particular is known for its large and beautiful canal houses. History Th ...

which had been redecorated in the popular Louis XV style by

Daniel Marot Daniel Marot or Daniel Marot the Elder (1661–1752) was a French-born Dutch architect, furniture designer and engraver at the forefront of the classicizing Late Baroque Louis XIV style. He worked for a long time in England and the Dutch Republ ...

for the former owner, the wealthy widow Petronella van Lennep-de Neufville. She had the

Jacob de Wit Jacob de Wit (19 December 1695 – 12 November 1754) was a Dutch artist and interior decorator who painted many religious scenes. Biography Jacob de Wit was born in Amsterdam, and became famous for his door and ceiling paintings. He lived on ...

ceiling installed that can be seen in Gildemeester's art gallery painting, and she commissioned a wall decoration scheme for the parlour by Isaac de Moucheron and sculpted stucco decorations in the hallway and main staircase by Jan van Logteren. The mansion was a stately home in which Gildemeester could exhibit his art collection. File:Interieur trappenhuis, overzicht stucwerk balustrade met stucbeelden van muzikanten - Amsterdam - 20352462 - RCE.jpg, Stucco musicians overlook the staircase by Jan van Logteren File:Interieur hal, overzicht beelden van Venus en Adonis - Amsterdam - 20352444 - RCE.jpg, Venus and Adonis in the hallway by Jan van Logteren File:Interieur kamer, overzicht schoorsteenboezem - Amsterdam - 20352777 - RCE.jpg, Fireplace in the parlour, flanked by Moucheron wall paintings

Art gallery

In 1794-95

Adriaan de Lelie Adriaan de Lelie (19 May 1755 – 30 November 1820)Lelie, Adriaan de
in the

painted Gildemeester amid his collection, flanked by Jurriaan Andriessen and the sailor Cornelis Rudolphus Theodorus Krayenhoff, with de Lelie himself in the background. By his death in 1799 Gildemeester had built up a collection of over 300 paintings, including works by

Jacob van Ruisdael Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achie ...

Meindert Hobbema Meindert Lubbertszoon Hobbema (bapt. 31 October 1638 – 7 December 1709) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of landscapes, specializing in views of woodland, although his most famous painting, ''The Avenue at Middelharnis'' (1689, National Galler ...

, Pieter de Hoogh,

Gabriel Metsu In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

Gerard ter Borch Gerard ter Borch (; December 1617 – 8 December 1681), also known as Gerard Terburg (), was a Dutch Golden Age painter mainly of genre subjects. He influenced his fellow Dutch painters Gabriel Metsu, Gerrit Dou, Eglon van der Neer and Johan ...

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

and the French painter

Jean-Baptiste Pillement Jean-Baptiste Pillement (24 May 1728 – 26 April 1808) was a French painter and designer, known for his exquisite and delicate landscapes, but whose importance lies primarily in the engravings done after his drawings, and their influence in spr ...

. He also owned an extensive collection of drawings and prints. His works included Rembrandt's ''The ship builder Rijksen and his wife'' (now in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

Catalogue entry
/ref>), ''Portrait of a Clergyman'' (1637) and ''The Healing of Old Tobias'' (1636). When his collection was auctioned in 1800, it raised 167,000 guilders, with the highest individual price being for

Paulus Potter Paulus Potter (; 20 November 1625 (baptised) – 17 January 1654 (buried)) was a Dutch painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid sur ...

's ''The Milkmaid'' - cow painters like Potter and hare painters like Weenix were very popular at the end of the 18th century and the dawn of Romanticism. Several important paintings from the collection, such as Jan Asselijn's ''

The Threatened Swan ''The Threatened Swan'' ()The Threatened Swan, Jan Asselijn, c. 1650
...

'', ended up the Netherlands' national art gallery, which opened to the public in

Huis ten Bosch Huis ten Bosch (, ; ) is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Huis ten Bosch was th ...

but is now housed in the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

. Gildemeester was buried in the Lutheran church. His only heir was his niece Mary, who died in 1817. File:Jan Asselijn - The Threatened Swan.jpg, ''

The Threatened Swan ''The Threatened Swan'' ()The Threatened Swan, Jan Asselijn, c. 1650
...

'' by Jan Asselijn, Rijksmuseum File:Gerard ter Borch - The Letter - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Letter'', by Gerard ter Borch, Royal Collection File:Hooch, Pieter de - A Woman Preparing Bread and Butter for a Boy - Google Art Project.jpg, '' A Woman Preparing Bread and Butter for a Boy'', by Pieter de Hooch, Getty Center File:Jacob van Ruisdael - Landscape with a Windmill Near a Town Moat.jpg, '' Landscape with a Windmill near a Town Moat'', by Jacob van Ruisdael, private collection File:Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael - An Extensive Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Village Church - WGA20493.jpg, '' A Landscape with a Ruined Castle and a Church'', by Jacob van Ruisdael, National Gallery File:Cavalier soldier Hals-1624x.jpg, ''

Laughing Cavalier The ''Laughing Cavalier'' (1624) is a portrait by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals in the Wallace Collection in London. It was described by art historian Seymour Slive as "one of the most brilliant of all Baroque portraits". The title is ...

'', by

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

, Wallace Collection File:Johannes Vermeer - The Astronomer - 1668.jpg, '' The Astronomer'', by

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...

, Louvre

References

Sources

*Fuchs, J.M. (1967) Verzorgen en verplegen. Luthers diaconiehuis Amsterdam 1772 - 1967 *Lunsingh Scheurleer, Th.H. (1967) Het huis Herengracht 475 en zijn bewoners. Amstelodamum Jaarboek 1967, p. 78-105. *C.J. de Bruyn Kops
'De Amsterdamse verzamelaar Jan Gildemeester Jzn.'
Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 13 (1965), p. 79-114

External links

Rijksmuseum article on the collection of Jan Gildemeester Jansz.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gildemeester, Jan 1799 deaths 1744 births Art collectors from Amsterdam Portuguese emigrants to the Netherlands 18th-century art collectors