3. Praising and Pricing : Wilhelm VIII von Hessen-Kassel as Collector of Rembrandt
Justus Lange
Landgrave Wilhelm VIII of Hessen-Kassel (1682–1760) is a well-known princely collector in 18th-century Germany, or rather the old Holy Roman Empire [1].1 His appraisal of Rembrandt (1606–1669) has been studied since the late 19th century and more recently by Everhard Korthals Altes, Gregor J. M. Weber and others.2 Less studied is the financial side of his collecting activity, on which I will focus in this contribution.
In Wilhelm’s inventory, no less than 34 paintings by Rembrandt are listed.3 This number leads the list of artists, followed by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) (31), Philips Wouwerman (1619–1668) (25), Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) (21) and David Teniers II (1610–1690) (18). Almost 500 works in the collection were by Netherlandish artists, compared to 180 Italian and 121 German paintings. Almost 30 French, two Spanish and 40 anonymous works completed the collection. Thus, Wilhelm’s preference for Netherlandish painting becomes abundantly clear.4 From the 34 ‘Rembrandts‘, 24 are still in Kassel, but nowadays only 17 are considered to be by Rembrandt and/or his workshop. Some works were identified as works by Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), Nicolaes Maes (1634–1693), Willem Drost ((1633–1659) or others. The collection in Kassel is therefore a good example to show the state of connoisseurship in the 18th century.5
1
Philip van Dijk
Portrait of Wilhelm VIII of Hesse-Kassel (1682-1760), dated 1736
Kassel, Museum Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, inv./cat.nr. GK 328