Sculpted. The flat reverse is roughly chiselled. There is a square opening on the back to facilitate attachment.

Large parts of the nose, upper lip and chin are missing. The rest of the surface has small amounts of damage.

…; first documented in the Sint-Maartenskerk, Tiel, 1741;¹¹Tegenwoordige staat der Verenigde Nederlanden, III, vervattende de beschrijving der provincie Gelderland, Amsterdam 1741, p. 230. found damaged in a corner of the church, 1869; donated by the Nederlands Hervormde Gemeente (Dutch Reformed Assembly), Tiel, to the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst, The Hague, 1876/77; transferred to the museum, 1885

Object number: BK-18304

This marble bust was found, the worse for wear, in a corner of Sint-Maartenskerk in Tiel in 1869. The portrait, signed and dated 1728 by Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742), must have come from the now lost funerary monument – presumably an epitaph or wall tomb – erected in this church for Johan van Welderen (1660-1724).²²L.J. van der Klooster, ‘Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742): Documentatie over enkele van zijn werken’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 99-138, esp. pp. 128-29. The earliest known mention of this monument dates from 1741.³³Hedendaagsche Historie of Tegenwoordige staat der Vereenigde Nederlanden, III, vervattende de beschrijving der provincie Gelderland, Amsterdam 1741, p. 230. The fact there was indeed a substantial monument for him can also be deduced from the inscription that was on it (published in De Wapenheraut 8 (1904), pp. 132-33). It made mention of Posuerunt uxor liberique moerentes. It is not logical that the verb ‘posuerunt’ would relate to a mere tombstone. L.J. van der Klooster, ‘Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742): Documentatie over enkele van zijn werken’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 99-138, esp. p. 128, note 97. However, nothing is known about its commissioning, nor are there descriptions of the monument’s outward form, apart from it being a ‘memorial in black and white marble erected in a wall’. The year of its making (1728) inscribed on the bust does tie in with the count’s death four years previously. However, there is no way of telling whether Xavery was commissioned for the monument by Van Welderen’s next of kin after his death or whether the count himself did so during his life, as sometimes happened in those days.⁴⁴Count Reinhart Vincent van Hompesch and Baron Johan Theodor van Friesheim ordered their own funerary monuments from Xavery, see L.J. van der Klooster, ‘Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742): Documentatie over enkele van zijn werken’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 99-138, esp. pp. 124-25. The portrait’s vitality and the individual traits make it likely that Xavery had a ‘live’ model.

Johan van Welderen, Lord of Ubbergen, Valburg and Oudenhorn, was a bailiff, justice and dike reeve of Neder-Betuwe and for many years a member of the States General for the province of Gelderland. Stadholder Willem III held him in high regard and often consulted him.⁵⁵A.J. van der Aa, Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden, 21 vols ., Haarlem 1852-78, vol. 5, p. 32. Van Welderen’s funerary monument was destroyed in the eighteenth century, probably in the French Era, when, under the guise of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, all traces of the ancien regime had to be eradicated. The present bust is all that remains. The lavishly decorated epitaph erected in the same church by Johan during his lifetime for his deceased brother, brigadier-general Steven van Welderen (1662-1709) and signed by the Utrecht sculptor Jan Mast (c. 1680-1736),⁶⁶For this epitaph, see D. Ozinga, Daniel Marot: De schepper van den Hollandschen Lodewijk XIV-stijl, Amsterdam 1938, p. 191; L.J. van der Klooster, ‘Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742): Documentatie over enkele van zijn werken’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 99-138, esp. p. 128; C. Coppée, ‘Jan Mast, een Utrechtse beeldhouwer van grafmonumenten in de achttiende eeuw’, Bulletin KNOB 5 (2006), pp. 172-92, esp. pp. 177-78, and fig. 7. was untouched by the patriotic mob – possibly out of respect for this warrior’s alleged heroic deeds. The epitaph in question comprises, among other things, an obelisk with a portrait medallion of the deceased.

Johan van Welderen is portrayed as a dignified statesman wearing a ceremonial cuirass. His well-nourished face is framed by a luxuriant allonge wig and a cravatte à la Steenkerque (Steinkirk cravat), knotted round his neck. Although this is the earliest known bust by Xavery, the formula the sculptor used for portraits until late in his career clearly had already developed. Such portraits feature the face side-on and the arms are, at best, suggested. The unnatural termination of the bust is covered with seemingly casual drapery to conceal the truncated arms and the transition to the base. Xavery used a socle with a similar form, with profiling and a projecting central part, for the bust made in 1733 of stadholder Willem IV in the Mauritshuis, a modello of which is owned by the Rijksmuseum (BK-1959-78), and for the bust of Dom Luis da Cunha of 1737, also in the Rijksmuseum (BK-1994-3). This form dates back to a model much used by François Dieussart (c. 1600-1661). Xavery might well have ‘borrowed’ this socle form straight from Dieussart’s work, which could be seen at various locations in The Hague.⁷⁷F. Scholten, ‘Het portret van Don Luis da Cunha door Jan Baptist Xavery (1737)’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 42 (1994), pp. 107-19, esp. p. 117, note 4. In two later busts, of Wilhelm, landgrave van Hessen-Kassel and the Friesian statesman Sicco van Goslinga (both made in 1738), Xavery opted to accentuate the draped cloak more. As a result, the socle in both works is largely obscured – or even absent – adding dynamism to the overall composition.

As Scholten suggested, Van Welderen’s funerary monument might have been designed by, or based on a design by Daniël Marot (1661-1752).⁸⁸F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. p. 94. This French-born architect served in the court of the stadholder in The Hague from 1686 until Willem III’s death in 1702. He was the one to introduce the classicizing late baroque Louis XIV style in the Netherlands which continued to be popular until far into the eighteenth century. Marot’s influence on Dutch funerary sculpture was considerable, partly thanks to the publication of two widely distributed series of prints he made with designs for funerary monuments.⁹⁹Premiere Liure de Tombeaux et Mozoles, c. 1705 and Seconde Liure de Tombeaux et d’Epitaphes, c. 1705-12. In the first decades of the eighteenth century a remarkably large number of Dutch individuals (regents, the aristocracy or lesser nobility) ordered funerary monuments in the French courtly style, adapted by Daniël Marot to the restrained Dutch-protestant taste.¹⁰¹⁰F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. p. 97 and note 31 for a summary.

From the time Xavery, who came from Antwerp, arrived in The Hague (before June 1721), he was greatly influenced by Daniël Marot, as were his colleagues Nicolaas Seuntjes, Jan Mast, Pieter van der Plas and Ignatius van Logteren. He and Marot were almost certainly in direct contact. For instance, in 1731 Xavery worked with Daniël’s son, Jacob, on the funerary monument of Baron Johan Theodoor von Friesheim in the church of Heusden (cf. BK-NM-11378) and in 1733 he was involved in the new interiors of the refurbished palace Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague which were overseen by Daniël Marot himself.

The inclusion of a freestanding portrait bust is quite unusual in Dutch funerary sculpture.¹¹¹¹F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. p. 94. The Xavery used this type of sculpture no fewer than three times, of which the example on Van Welderen’s monument was the earliest.¹²¹²The other examples are the funerary monument (lost) in Linnich for Count Reinhard Vincent von Hompesch (1735) and the one in Dongjum for Sicco van Goslinga (1737), see L.J. van der Klooster, ‘Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742): Documentatie over enkele van zijn werken’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 99-138, esp. pp. 123-28; F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. pp. 94-96. Contrary to other suggestions,¹³¹³F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. p. 96. Xavery was not the first. Jan Mast’s wall tomb in the Dutch Reformed church in Wijhe made around 1707 for Baron Transisalanus Adolf van Voorst tot Hagenvoorde, sets a precedent.¹⁴¹⁴For this monument see C. Coppée, ‘Jan Mast, een Utrechtse beeldhouwer van grafmonumenten in de achttiende eeuw’, Bulletin KNOB 5 (2006), pp. 172-92, esp. pp. 176-77. Not only does the tomb exhibit influences of Marot, but also of Rombout Verhulst (1624-1698). It is perhaps not entirely by chance that Verhulst’s epitaph for Isaac Sweers of c. 1673/74 in Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk, also includes a portrait bust, the model for which is in the Rijksmuseum (BK-2016-102).

The introduction of this un-Dutch motif in the funerary sculpture of the early eighteenth century can probably be ascribed to Marot. Two sketches and a sample print by Marot of a wall tomb with a portrait bust are known.¹⁵¹⁵For the drawings, see F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. figs. 11 and 12. For the print, see E. Wasmuth, Das Ornamentwerk des Daniel Marot in 264 Lichtdrucken nachgebildet, Berlin 1892, pl. 71 (print on the left). Although there is no concrete proof, it is possible, as Scholten suggested, that one of those drawings could even have a direct connection with Van Welderen’s monument.¹⁶¹⁶F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. p. 94 and fig. 11. It is a detailed, coloured, pen-and-ink drawing of a wall tomb based on an obelisk – just like the epitaph Van Welderen had erected for his brother in the same church. A portrait bust is depicted in-the-round, above a cartouche surrounded by foliage. It has the same proportions as the present bust of Count Johan van Welderen.¹⁷¹⁷The man’s appearance and garb differ from the definitive bust of Van Welderen, but Xavery was probably at liberty to supply his own design for the bust in which case the version on Marot’s drawing was a general place holder. Since there are no military attributes in the design, the monument is likely to have been intended for an administrative official like Van Welderen. Also, the wall tomb bears a crown of a count, which ties in perfectly with his aristocratic status.

The design sketch is in colour and presents both a front- and a side-view suggesting that this was a presentation drawing for a specific assignment, in that case perhaps the tomb of Van Welderen.¹⁸¹⁸F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. p. 94. Another possibility, though less obvious in view of the use of colour, is that Marot made the design with the intention of publishing it as a print to inspire others. For instance, two books of prints with funerary monuments designed by Marot were published of which only a few were actually realized.¹⁹¹⁹Premiere Liure de Tombeaux et Mozoles and Second Liure de Tombeaux et d’Epithapes. In this context, it is perhaps relevant that the previously mentioned monument by Jan Mast which Johan van Welderen had erected for his brother Steven,²⁰²⁰D. Ozinga, Daniel Marot: De schepper van den Hollandschen Lodewijk XIV-stijl, Amsterdam 1938, p. 191; L.J. van der Klooster, ‘Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742): Documentatie over enkele van zijn werken’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 99-138, esp. p. 128. in all probability came about without Marot’s direct intervention, though it seems to have been designed using his widely distributed prints.²¹²¹D. Ozinga, Daniel Marot: De schepper van den Hollandschen Lodewijk XIV-stijl, Amsterdam 1938, p. 44; C. Coppée, ‘Jan Mast, een Utrechtse beeldhouwer van grafmonumenten in de achttiende eeuw’, Bulletin KNOB 5 (2006), pp. 172-92, esp. pp. 173, 178.

Bieke van der Mark, 2025

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 375, with earlier literature; F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. pp. 94 and 96; F. Scholten, ‘Het portret van Don Luis da Cunha door Jan Baptist Xavery (1737)’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 42 (1994), pp. 107-19, esp. pp. 110-11 and 116; F. Scholten, ‘Daniël Marot, ontwerper van grafmonumenten’, in K. Ottenheym and W. Terlouw (eds.), Daniël Marot: Vormgever van een deftig bestaan: Architectuur en interieurs van Haagse stadspaleizen, Zutphen 1988, pp. 85-99, esp. pp. 94, 96; C. Coppée, ‘Jan Mast, een Utrechtse beeldhouwer van grafmonumenten in de achttiende eeuw’, Bulletin KNOB 5 (2006), pp. 172-92, esp. p. 178

B. van der Mark, 2025, 'Jan Baptist Xavery, Bust of Johan van Welderen, Lord of Ubbergen, Valburg and Oudenhoorn (1660-1724), The Hague, 1728', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20035814