Gerard Wigmana (1673-1741) Portrait of Lady with Jewels

Portrait of a woman with jewelry, Dutch school from the beginning of the 18th century by the painter Gérard Wignama (1673-1741). Monogram lower right on the base of the G.W. column.

Gerard Wigmana was born in Workum in Friesland as the son of the merchant Jan Tiaerdts and his wife Gaitske Gatzes Wigmana – interestingly he took his mother’s surname. Wigmana developed a passion for painting from an early age, as evidenced by an episode following his father’s death around 1688: when his mother wanted him to learn a decent trade, Wigmana responded by saying: “If I cannot not learn to paint, let me learn to weave”, in the sense that he wanted to become a painter at all costs. Wigmana took drawing lessons from a local glass painter and studied with the German painter Joachim Burmeister, before becoming a student of Jelle Sybrandi, a member of the Society of Dutch Painters. He then undertook a Grand Tour south from 1698 to 1702, visiting Paris, where he studied at the Royal Academy for a year and a half at the start of the journey, after which he continued to Rome, where he arrived on November 14 1699 and entered the workshop of the painter Giovanni Maria Morandi, himself a student of Pietro da Cortona. In the Eternal City he also met the artist Daniel Seiter and provided details of the latter’s life to the biographer Arnold van Houbraken. In Rome he copied three paintings by Raphael and is also known to have copied a painting by Titian in Modena.

By 1702, Wigmana had returned to the north and was living in Dokkum and Leeuwarden, where he married in 1707; he established himself as an independent teacher, and the esteem of his talent is evidenced by his position as art teacher of the children of Princess Henrietta Amalia Johan Willem Friso and her seven sisters, which he held for seven years . The artist then moved to Amsterdam. He also undertook a short trip to London in 1737.
Wigmana’s stay in France and Italy, where he studied the works of the great Renaissance masters, proved very influential on his work. According to biographer Johan van Gool, the artist made so many copies of Raphael that he became known as the “Frisian Raphael”. Wigmana had sincere opinions on the development of contemporary painting, which he expressed on paper and which were published under the title “Korte schets de denkbeeld, Om tot een groote volmaaktheid in de schilderkonst te geraken”, printed posthumously in 1742 by the bookseller Jacobus Ryckhoff – Wigmana lists nearly fifty artists from whom he finds a source of inspiration. Besides Raphael, Correggio, Guido Reni, Veronese and Titian are also mentioned.

The paintings that Wigmana produced after his return from the South can be described as typical works of the classical school of the “fijnschilder” or refined painters, who excelled in the refined and minutely detailed depiction of fabrics and textures. He was quite famous in the 18th century, but was largely forgotten during the next, and it was not until a publication by Theodor von Frimmmel in 1907 that his name entered the annals of art history . Due to this relative obscurity, many of his paintings have been attributed to other artists of the period, including Willem van Mieris and Adriaen van der Werff, and the process of identifying Wigmana’s works continues today . To date, several dozen of his paintings are known, most representing mythological, religious and allegorical scenes, but also numerous portraits.

This recently discovered work, in an excellent state of conservation, is a typical example of his elegant style and is also signed by the artist. The beautiful lady depicted, richly dressed, proudly displays her jewelry. Her ivory skin shines against the background, a detail typical of all Wigmana paintings.

Measures
canvas cm 58.2 x 46.5
frame cm 66 x 58