After a thorough restoration, a 17th-century family portrait by Roelof Koets is back in Open Air Museum Het Hoogeland in Warffum.
The painting of Warffumer bailiff Louis Trip and his family from 1689 hung for decades in the museum’s sex house, which has it on long-term loan from the Trip family. To protect the work, it hung in a place where there was little light and where visitors could hardly see it.
Over the centuries, the layer of varnish on the painting had become so dark that it was almost impossible to see what was on the painting. During the restoration in the studio of Marjan de Visser from The Hague, all kinds of ‘forgotten’ details came to light, such as two dogs, the eldest son’s boots and a fruit bowl in the hands of one of the younger children.
Warffumborg clearly visible
In addition, the Warffumborg demolished in 1708 is now clearly visible. Apart from a few engravings and drawings, Koets’ work is, as far as known, the only painting depicting the deposit and its inhabitants.
The open-air museum wants to give the family portrait a place in the permanent exhibition to be realized in the main building. To celebrate the return, the museum will hold a lecture day in the summer on the painting, the depicted family and the history of the Warffum estate.
The restoration was made possible by contributions from the Rembrandt Association and the Trip family.