FRANS HALS (1582-1666)

Samuel Ampzing (c.1630)

Oil on copper (16,5 x 12 cm)

Private Collection, United States

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“This exquisite portrait, one of three known works that Frans Hals painted on copper, depicts the Haarlem clergyman, poet, and historian Samuel Ampzing (1590–1632) holding what must be the book for which he is best known: Beschryvinge ende lof der stad Haerlem in Holland (Description and Praise of the City of Haarlem in Holland), published in Haarlem in 1628. The portrait, painted in 1630, was engraved shortly before or after Ampzing’s early death on July 29, 1632, by the prolific Haarlem draftsman and printmaker Jan van de Velde II (1593–1641).” (1)

The identification of the sitter as Ampzing is based on an engraving by Jan van de Velde (1593-1641) dated 1631. Furthermore, the painting states the sitter’s age as 40, but the date’s last digit is illegible. As the print indicates the age of Ampzig as 41 it would date the painting to 1630, only two years after this man of letters lauded Haarlem’s most talented portraitist in his poem.

“Ampzing was the youngest son of a Haarlem clergyman, Johannes Assuerus Ampzingius, who was dismissed from service in 1596 for preaching false views on predestination and other indiscretions. Nonetheless, his employers, the burgomasters of Haarlem, sent his son Samuel to Latin School at the city’s expense and then to Leiden University. Ampzing continued his theological studies at Geneva and Saumur, and in 1616 became a minister in the village of Rijsoord, located between Rotterdam and Dordrecht. Residing elsewhere did not dampen Ampzing’s enthusiasm for his native city. His first “Praise of Haarlem” (Den Lof van Haerlem), in rhymed verse with classical allusions, dates from 1616 and was written with the help of Scriverius (who himself lived in Leiden from 1593 onward). A second edition of 1621 reflects a shift from a more “pagan” mode to a Christian one, following Ampzing’s appointment as a Haarlem minister in 1619 in St. Bavo’s cathedral. These first two odes to Haarlem, which were unillustrated, were published anonymously, but the 1628 edition proudly bears the author’s name (as announced in his foreword)” (2)

With his face dramatically lit from the left, Ampzing fixes his eyes on the viewer. He wears an old-fashioned ruff collar and the black doublet of the clerics. The book he holds is not only a usual attribute of theologians and scholars since the Renaissance, but also more specifically refers to his various works.

During his entire career, Frans Hals painted 35 small-scale portraits, of which only 3 were on copper; this is one of them. Despite his use of a support that leads to a high finish, Hals made no attempt to blend the brushstrokes. The face, however, shows a tighter technique than the hands and clothing. The buff background brightens up around the face as irradiating light.

(1) Liedtke, Walter A. =“Portrait of Samuel Ampzing” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 4th ed. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Elizabeth Nogrady with Caroline Van Cauwenberge. New York, 2023

(2) Same as above.