JONGH, Ludolf de

In seventeenth century Dutch painting guardroom scenes became a popular subject with several specialists active in this domain: Jacob Duck, Pieter Codde, Willem Duyster, and above all Anthonie Palamedesz.. Most Dutch guardroom scenes show soldiers either killing time (playing cards or dice, or smoking a pipe, sleeping or drinking), flirting with prostitutes, inspecting their weapons or showing their booty to a superior. The present painting shows an officer paying a visit to his men, who are playing cards in their guardroom.

Formerly this work was ascribed to Pieter de Hooch due to a false signature on the painting.

The composition of this painting, and the subject itself are clearly indebted to paintings by Pieter de Hooch such as Woman and Maid in a Courtyard. It is understandable that the painting was formerly attributed to De Hooch. However, it is entirely typical of the Rotterdam artist Ludolf de Jongh. He deserves recognition for his adaptation of a particular refinement in De Hooch’s work.

De Jongh was versatile Dutch painter producing portraits, genre scenes, guardroom scenes, landscapes, hunting scenes, town views and biblical and mythological themes.

Luxury and sophistication abound in this painting. A liveried messenger has entered the vestibule of an elegant home and is received by the mistress. The messenger’s large hound and the lady’s dainty spaniel cleverly echo the interactions of the principal protagonists. The fairly large vestibule is paved with marble tile and adorned with elaborate, architectural ornamentation. Gilt-leather wall-panels are situated behind the seamstress to the left. The crowning embellishment of this vestibule however is the large painting representing Ovid’s story of Diana and Actaeon, complete with a gold, auricular carved frame, a type that had become extremely fashionable by the 1660s.

De Jongh’s signature was discovered on the painting of Diana and Actaeon only in 1938; hitherto, the Woman Receiving a Letter was attributed to Pieter de Hooch, thus constituting yet another example of the confusion once surrounding the work of these two native Rotterdamers.