90

Rijcklof Van Goens And His Family

In 1910, when presenting the readers of this Journal
with a portrait of Governor Rycklof van Goens, we made
mention of the painting by Bartholomaeus van der Helst,
which was burnt in the fire at the Boyman's Museum at
Rotterdam in 1864. A copyy of this painting had fortunately
been made and was in the possession of Mr. J.C. van Goens
of The Hague in 1891. We are glad to be able to offer our
readers, as a frontispiece to the present number, a reproduc-
tion of this picture which is of so much interest to us in
Ceylon. It was painted in 1655-6 when van Goens and
his family were on a visit to the Fatherland, whither he
had sailed from Batavia as Admiral of the Return Fleet,
in "de Paerl", on the 28th June 1655. Van der Helst had
just previously founded, in conjunction with Nicolaes
de Helt Stokade, the Painters's Guild at Amsterdam, and it
is very probable that the sittings were given at the studio

 

        

12/12/99