by Gregor J.M. Weber

The large lunettes in the corridor of Amsterdam Town Hall were decorated with scenes of the Batavian uprising of 69 BC because that event was seen as an antique parallel to the rebellion of the Netherlands against Spanish rule. In 1659 Govert Flinck was commissioned to execute the entire project, but as he died not much later - in 1660 - the work was shared out between Rembrandt, Lievens and Jordaens. Rembrandt's The Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis was removed soon afterwards - for reasons still not fully explained - and replaced with one by Jurriaen Ovens. Lievens, in his painting dated 1661, depicts the Caninefate warriors, whom Claudius Civilis, leader of the Batavians, had been able to win over before the attack (fig. 1).[1] Amongst them, Brinio stood out by his courage and noble descent, so his followers raised him upon a shield and proclaimed him general.[2]

According to an unpublished suggestion by Albert Blankert, this scene, like many of the others, was of topical significance, for in 1651 the republican faction had abolished the stadtholdership of the princes of Orange. Because the House of Orange wielded special powers due to its command of the army, Pensionary Jacob Cats pleaded in the "Grote Vergadering" (Great Assembly) for the abolition of the permanent captaincy-general. Instead, the country should copy the Hebrews of the Bible who, as God's people, had been the oldest republic in the world: they chose a new general on the eve of every campaign. The spontaneous Shield-Raising of Brinio accordingly exemplified this anti-Orangist standpoint with an event from the nation's own history.[3]

In 1940 the art historian Dr Hans Schneider donated Jan Lievens's oil sketch for The Shield-Raising of Brinio (fig. 2) to the Municipal Collection of Amsterdam. This is considered to be the model for Lievens's large painting.[4]

The pedigree of this oil sketch has been reconstructed from extant documents. It was presumed to have been in seven auctions between 1737 and 1929. The artist was correctly identified in sale catalogues of 1737, 1799, 1800, 1803 and 1902, and the sketch was also rightly described as a model for the Town Hall painting. Apparently, however, there was no agreement on whether the figure being raised up on the shield was Claudius Civilis, as stated in 1737, 1800 and 1902, or Brinio, as asserted in 1799 and 1803.[5] The catalogue entries for the sales in 1844 and 1929 were completely misleading, which is made all the more surprising by the fact that the picture was correctly described in 1902.[6] The 1737 and 1844 catalogues made no reference to the support, in 1929 it was given as marouflé paper, and in the other cases it was described as canvas.

1. Jan Lievens, The Shield-Raising of Brinio, monogrammed and dated 1661. Canvas, 546 x 538 cm. Amsterdam, Royal Palace (the former Town Hall)