Resumen de 'Sir Joan Reynst, his good acquaintance, neighbour, and landlord': truth and fantasy in Houbraken's life of Karel du Jardin
The recent exhibition devoted to the 17th-century Dutch artist Karel du Jardin at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, provided an opportunity to examine the accuracy of some of the remarks about his life made by the biographer Arnold Houbraken. Though Houbraken is no longer regarded entirely as a scandalmonger, his account of Du Jardin's life does include a number of fanciful episodes, the most memorable of which involves the artist's trip to Texel, in the company of Sir Joan Reynst, who Boubraken describes as “his good acquaintance, neighbor, and landlord.” Though Houbraken was correct in determining the relationship between the two, he was definitely wrong in suggesting that Du Jardin accompanied Reynst to Italy. In fact, this is just one of a number of inaccuracies contained in Houbraken's life of Du Jardin. Nevertheless, his account seems to be generally correct, and is of use in identifying the sitters in certain portraits by Du Jardin.
