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All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at [email protected].
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at [email protected].
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at [email protected].
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at [email protected].
All our images can be downloaded in high resolution from our website for non-commercial use (research/study, educational purposes, personal blogs and social media).
Would you like to use our images in a publication? Please mention our credit line: "Mauritshuis, The Hague."
Commercial use
Would you like to use our images for commercial purposes? We would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact our marketing department at [email protected].
The Latin inscription clarifies the identity of this nobleman: Robert Cheseman, 48 years old in 1533. Cheseman was the chief falconer to the English king Henry VIII, an honourable position. He is stroking the bird on his hand with a tender gesture.
The German painter Hans Holbein painted this masterpiece shortly after he had settled for good in England. His amazing painting technique is shown to great advantage in the man’s intent gaze, in the shiny satin of his sleeves and in the little brass bell.
The bird has a small bell around his leg. This is so its keeper can easily find the bird once it has located its prey. The bell is so lifelike you can almost hear it ringing.
: ROBERTVS CHESEMAN . ÆTATIS . SVUÆ . XLVIII . / ANNO . DM . M . D . XXXIII .
Provenance
Unknown private collection, England, sixteenth century (marked by the inscription ‘W. E. P. L. C. / 46.’ on the back of the painting); King Charles I, London, before 1649; King Charles II, London, Whitehall, 1666/1667; King James II, London, Whitehall, 1685-1688; Kensington House, London, 1697, 1700; transferred by stadholder-King William III to Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn, after 1700-1702; Prince Johan Willem Friso, Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn, 1702-1711 (wax stamp with his coat of arms on the back of the painting but claimed by the English Crown); sale Het Loo, Amsterdam, 26 July 1713 (Lugt 242), no. 31 (withdrawn and sent to Friesland); palace in Leeuwarden, 1731; Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn, 1757; Prince William V, The Hague, after 1770-1795; confiscated by the French, transferred to the Muséum Central des Arts/Musée Napoléon (Musée du Louvre), Paris, 1795-1815; Royal Picture Gallery, housed in the Prince William V Gallery, The Hague, 1816; transferred to the Mauritshuis, 1822
