Panel Painting Engelbert II
Object number
LDSAL327
Production date
Early 16th century
Material
oak
oil paint
oil paint
Dimensions
height: 315mm
width: 195mm
width: 195mm
Location
Burlington House - (on display)
Inscriptions
Inscription content
+ MONSOVR + DE + NASSOV +
Inscriber
Unknown artist
Inscriber role/association
Artist
Inscription date
c. 1500
References
Reference (free text)
pp.426-429
Reference (controlled)
The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known world (2018). [Exhibition]. Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven. 15 February 2018 - 27 May 2018.
Oil on oak panel portrait of Engelbert II within integral arch-topped frame inscribed 'Monsour de Nassou'.
Inscribed Monsour de Nassou, this is now considered to be a portrait of Engelbert II (1451–1504), Count of Nassau-Dillenburg and Vianden, Baron of Breda, an important political figure in the Burgundian Netherlands in the late fifteenth century. The Society’s portrait of Engelbert, possibly painted during his lifetime, represents the count in middle age as a dignified statesman and bibliophile.
Engelbert II was an important political figure in the Burgundian Netherlands in the late fifteenth century. The eldest son of Jan IV of Nassau, Lord of Breda, Engelbert inherited the lordship of Breda after his father’s death in 1475, ruling a territory that lay partly to the east of Burgundy, between the Rhine and the Main. He married Cimburga van Baden (1450–1501), niece of Archduke Maximilian of Austria, in 1468 and became a knight of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece in 1473. He was a Lieutenant of the Realm, governing The Netherlands with others in the Regency Council under Archduke Maximilian, between the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482 and the coming of age of their son, Philip the Fair, in 1494. During the revolt against Maximilian led by Flemish members of the Regency Council, Engelbert stood by the Archduke and was rewarded with the confiscated assets of Louis de Gruuthuse, one of the rebels. In 1496, Engelbert was appointed Regent of all The Netherlands, serving in Philip the Fair’s name. He died in Brussels on 31 May 1504.
In the Society’s portrait, Engelbert wears a heavy fur-lined gown. His cap sits squarely on his brow, as was customary until the fashion for headgear tilted to one side gained favour in the early 1500s. The Count wears the gilded collar of the prestigious Order of the Golden Fleece, shown here on a relatively short chain, below which hangs a jewelled cross with pearls in the interstices. This is an elongated version of the one in the Society’s arch-topped portrait of Ferdinand of Aragon and is executed in a similar way. The Count is holding a book and has marked his place in it by slipping a finger between its gilt-edged pages, as if pausing to reflect on his reading.
Engelbert II was an important political figure in the Burgundian Netherlands in the late fifteenth century. The eldest son of Jan IV of Nassau, Lord of Breda, Engelbert inherited the lordship of Breda after his father’s death in 1475, ruling a territory that lay partly to the east of Burgundy, between the Rhine and the Main. He married Cimburga van Baden (1450–1501), niece of Archduke Maximilian of Austria, in 1468 and became a knight of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece in 1473. He was a Lieutenant of the Realm, governing The Netherlands with others in the Regency Council under Archduke Maximilian, between the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482 and the coming of age of their son, Philip the Fair, in 1494. During the revolt against Maximilian led by Flemish members of the Regency Council, Engelbert stood by the Archduke and was rewarded with the confiscated assets of Louis de Gruuthuse, one of the rebels. In 1496, Engelbert was appointed Regent of all The Netherlands, serving in Philip the Fair’s name. He died in Brussels on 31 May 1504.
In the Society’s portrait, Engelbert wears a heavy fur-lined gown. His cap sits squarely on his brow, as was customary until the fashion for headgear tilted to one side gained favour in the early 1500s. The Count wears the gilded collar of the prestigious Order of the Golden Fleece, shown here on a relatively short chain, below which hangs a jewelled cross with pearls in the interstices. This is an elongated version of the one in the Society’s arch-topped portrait of Ferdinand of Aragon and is executed in a similar way. The Count is holding a book and has marked his place in it by slipping a finger between its gilt-edged pages, as if pausing to reflect on his reading.