This distinguished early 17th-century portrait, attributed to Flemish Renaissance artist Gortzius Geldorp (1553-1618), depicts Conrad Scheiffart von Merode zu Weilerswist, a Rhenish nobleman and later Commander of the Order of St John.
The sitter is shown half-length against a plain, dark ground - his gaze is steady and alert. The head is handled with exceptional sensitivity: the modelling of the eyes, the subtle transitions of flesh, and the restrained articulation of the beard and hair all speak of a masterly hand. The longer one looks, the more the face holds together - a hallmark of a painter trained to observe both figurative structure and moral presence simultaneously.
He wears a buff-coloured jerkin of treated leather over finely embroidered sleeves, paired with a falling-band collar edged in reticella lace - attire entirely consistent with Rhenish noble fashion around 1600. The costume is painted with assurance and fluency, and its execution suggests workshop participation under the direction of the master. This division of labour was standard practice in Geldorp’s Cologne studio, where the painter himself would often reserve the head for his own hand while assistants completed secondary passages.
In his right hand, the sitter presents the eight-pointed cross of the Order of St John. Technical examination indicates that this insignia was added at a later date, possibly during Conrad’s lifetime, following his formal admission to the Order. Such updates were common in early modern portraiture, transforming existing likenesses into records of later honour and vocation. The addition here is discreet and sympathetic.
Conrad Scheiffart von Merode belonged to one of the Rhineland’s oldest noble families, seated at Weilerswist near Cologne. Archival records trace a long life of service within the Order of St John, including his command of Herrenstrunden and repeated donations of his ancestral estate to the Order - acts that later gave rise to prolonged inheritance disputes after his death in 1656. The portrait thus preserves a vocation that would shape more than half a century.
Physically, the painting bears the marks of an authentic working history. Evidence of early front-edge tack holes indicates that the canvas was originally stretched on a period strainer, consistent with workshop practice of this time, before being relined and restretched in the mid-nineteenth century. These traces confirm long custodianship.
Within the oeuvre of Gortzius Geldorp, this portrait exemplifies the values of Cologne portraiture at its most refined. Geldorp was not a painter of spectacle, but of conscience.
Viewed today, the painting rewards prolonged looking. In Conrad’s steady gaze, we encounter the quiet assurance of a life shaped by discipline, faith, and responsibility.
Held in a Louis XV-style swept frame with bold acanthus leaf and shell cartouches to the corners and centres, scrolling foliate mouldings along the rails, a textured sanded frieze, and a burnished gilt sight edge.
Learn more about Gortzius Geldorp in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 33” x 39½” / 84cm x 100cm
Year of creation: 1600
Provenance: Private collection, Westphalia, Germany / Private collection, Italy.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Canvas relined. Later stretcher. Fine craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Frame in excellent condition.
Artist’s auction maximum: £250,835 for ‘Portrait of Bernhard Sigismund zum Pütz with his Sons, Sigismund, Johann, and Jacob/Portrait of Catharina Broelmann with her Daughters, Sophie, Gertrud, Christine, and Catharina (1598)’, Oil on panel, Sotheby's, Master Paintings Part I, New York, 6 February 2025 (lot 320).
Our reference: BRV2213
