A new light upon Hendrik van Deventer (1651-1724): identification and recovery of a portrait

Early in 1996, both the artist and the patron of a beautifully painted portrait by an anonymous painter of the late seventeenth century were identified. The painting (Figure 1) was compared with works by other portraitists, and a thorough stylistic analysis by the Netherlands Institute for Art History finally showed that the portrait displays all the characteristics of a painting by Thomas van der Wilt (1659- 1733)1. In the autumn of that year the painting was restored and the signature and the date (1700) were recovered. This proved that the maker of the portrait was indeed Thomas van der Wilt.