Derick Berck of Cologne

1536
Not on view
This painting belongs to a group of portraits Hans Holbein made for the German merchants of the Hanseatic League in London (see also his Portrait of a Member of the Wedigh Family nearby). The bearded, thirty-year-old sitter is identified by the letter in his hand, which is addressed "To the honorable and pious Derick Berck, London, at the Steelyard [. . .]." The other inscription on the cartellino refers to a passage from Virgil’s Aeneid that reads, "[Perchance even this distress] will someday be a joy to recall." Exhorting perseverance, this statement might have been the sitter’s personal motto.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Derick Berck of Cologne
  • Artist: Hans Holbein the Younger (German, Augsburg 1497/98–1543 London)
  • Date: 1536
  • Medium: Oil on canvas, transferred from wood
  • Dimensions: 21 x 16 3/4 in. (53.3 x 42.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jules Bache Collection, 1949
  • Object Number: 49.7.29
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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