Description: Black chalk, heightened with white, on brownish paper, 361 x 302 mm. The sheet is badly damaged, with folds and worn areas, particularly in the lower part. There is a tear in the forehead. A fairly large patch of paper is inserted on the cheek, to the left of the mouth. A large area at the lower right and along the bottom has also been restored with a separate piece of paper, and an attempt has been made to complete the collar. Clumsy outlines in a different chalk (charcoal?) appear on the hat, with a few strokes in the face and hair as well. No watermark. Chain lines: 23 mm. Inscribed on the verso, on the piece of paper added at the bottom, in an 18th-century hand in pen and brown ink, Conterfeytzel van Waterloo. B. van der Helst F.

The entry for the drawing in the 1749 catalogue was crossed out, probably by Tessin himself, and the drawing is not included in the 1790 catalogue. It may have been considered insignificant, perhaps owing to its poor state of preservation, and ended up with other such drawings, the whole group later appended to the collection of architectural drawings (cf. Introduction).

The white highlights are concentrated in the forehead, nose and cheekbone, subtly modelling the face. There are also some white strokes on what is left of the collar. In spite of the poor state of conservation and the inexpert retouching, this is a powerful portrait. It seems compatible with the rendering of Paulus Potter. Hall reports that B. Renckens attributes the drawing to M. Sweerts. No other portrait of Waterloo seems to be known, and the identification of the subject relies solely on the inscription. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 180]

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Bartholomeus Helst | Porträtt av konstnären Anthonie Waterloo | Nationalmuseum

Bartholomeus Helst | Portrait of the Painter Anthonie Waterloo | Nationalmuseum

Foto: Hans Thorwid / Nationalmuseum, CC BY SA 