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Thomas de Keyser (1596-1667)
Portrait sketch of Burgomaster Abraham Boom, Cornelisz. Panel, 23.5 × 17.5 cm.

The Netherlands Office for Fine Arts, inv.nr.NK 1420 (on loan to Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Amsterdam). Confiscated by the Germans from the collection of H.L. Larsen, Wassenaar.

Said to be related to de Keyser's unusual painting of the four burgomasters of Amsterdam being informed of the arrival of Maria de' Medici in September 1638. That visit was the occasion of mammoth public ceremonies which turned the entire city into one big stage starring the mother of the king of France (with whom she was having a royal feud). Meeting the queen-mother at the city gates was Andries Bicker, the most powerful man in the city, while the burgomasters who ruled at his discretion stayed in their chamber. Although Thomas de Keyser was well connected in Amsterdam officialdom, his father having been town architect and sculptor until his death in 1621, he does not seem to have been one of the artists whose talents were employed to lend splendour to the occasion. The painting of the four burgomasters is quite small and informal, and was apparently intended as the model for a larger version which was not commissioned. The composition was published as a print by Jonas Suyderhoef.

Cat. Mauritshuis 1977, P. 132