Constantijn Netscher (1668 - 1723), Full-length Portrait Of Charles Du Han De Martigny, 1701

Constantijn Netscher
Dutch painter
The Hague 1668 – 1723 The Hague
A full-length portrait of Charles du Han de Martigny as a commander
Oil on canvas : 70,6 X 50,4 cm
Signed and dated lower left “Const Netscher 1701.”
Wooden sculpted frame : 87,6 X 68,4 cm

The painting is registered at the RKD, The Hague under Nr. 0000057367.

Constantijn Netscher followed in the footsteps of his father, Caspar, as portrait painter. Both were active in The Hague, the residence of the Stadtholder, of the States of Holland and of foreign diplomats.

Our portrait is dated 1701. That very year an important treaty was signed in The Hague, shortly before the start of a pan-European war, the War of the Spanish Succession: it was an alliance between the Dutch Republic, Great Britain and Austria against King Louis XIV of France.

Our portrait is said to represent the Count of Martigny. Charles du Han de Martigny, Colonel of a Regiment of Cuirrassiers and General of the Cavalry must have travelled with the Holy Roman Austrian Habsburg Emperor Leopold I to The Hague. At this occasion Netscher painted our portrait. The Castle of Martigny was situated in Lorraine, close to the present-day Belgian and Luxemburg borders. There is just one minor flaw: Charles’ nephew Louis Philippe (aged circa 23 in 1701) was to be the first Count of Martigny, Charles was only Knight and Lord of Martigny.

 All my paintings are amply documented on my website:
https://www.jeanmoust.com/artists/portraits-genre-and-exterior-scenes/netscher-constantijn-1701/item-1817463