(Utrecht 1571–1638)
Portrait of Helena van de Poll,
signed and dated upper right: PMorle 1624,
oil on panel, 71.2 x 54.6 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Van Ommeren, Utrecht, 7 November 1810, lot 19;
with Dowdeswell, London;
Collection Leonard Koppel (1854–1933), Berlin, 1909;
sale, Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, 5 March 1952, lot 75

Exhibited:
Berlin, Royal Academy, 1909

Literature:
Illustrierter Katalog der Ausstellung von Bildnissen des 15. bis 18. Jahrhunderts aus dem Privatbesitz der Mitglieder des Vereins, Berlin 1909, p. 16, no. 90;
C. H. de Jonge, Paulus Moreelse, 1938, p. 88, no. 72;
E. N. Domela Nieuwenhuis, Paulus Moreelse, 2, 2001, pp. 438/39, no. 76

The present portrait shows Helene van den Poll, the member of a wealthy patrician family in Utrecht, who in 1625, i.e. one year after this painting had been commissioned (as an engagement picture?), married Hendrik van Leeuwen. In a copy of the present painting (Michaelis Collection, Cape Town, South Africa) she is clearly identified: next to the families’ combined coat of arms appears the following inscription: HELENA VAN DE POL/CORNELISDR. HUYSVR./VAN HENDRIKSZ. LEEUW/AARTSZ. 1624.

Paulus Moreelse is considered one of the leading Dutch portraitists of the Golden Age. He began his career in the studio of the painter Michiel van Mierevelt in Delft. Returning to Utrecht after a journey to Italy (1596), he primarily painted portraits of patricians such as the Van Voorst family of Utrecht and aristocrats like Duke Christian of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The artist played a major role in the establishment of the Guild of Saint Luke in his native town and was elected its first chairman. After 1620 he concentrated on religious and mythological themes. Besides his activity as a painter, he also held the political position of a town councillor and worked as an architect (he designed, among other monuments, Saint Catherine’s Gate in Utrecht). Moreover, in 1636 he was involved in the foundation of the University of Utrecht.

The present painting is sold with a lithographic printing plate.