Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder: Portrait of Jakob von Omphal and Elisabeth Bellinghausen (1538 - 1539)

(Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands)

A diptych made by the German artist Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder (1493–1555). This diptych shows the couple Jakob von Omphal (or Omphalius) (1500-1567) and his wife Elisabeth Bellinghausen (1520- after 1570) from Cologne. Jakob Omphalius was a lawyer a local politician. He studied law at the universities of Cologne, Utrecht and Leuven, obtained his doctorate in law at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1529/30 and again in Toulouse in 1532/33. He held several senior positions, taught law at Cologne University and was ennobled in 1559. After a riding accident in 1562, Jakob von Omphal retired from politics to Haus Büchel in Wiesdorf (later known as the Doctors Castle), which he acquired in 1540 as an estate. There he died at the age of 67 on October 25, 1567 and was buried in the Wiesdorf church. Jacob married Elisabeth (the daughter of prof. Peter Bellinghausen, chancellor of Cologne) on February 8th, 1539 - the couple got 13 children. This diptych was commissioned to celebrate the engagement of the couple. The small sprig of bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) which Elisabeth is holding was the attribute of unmarried couples in Cologne portraits. Elisabeth’s braids also refer to the engagement period, as married women wore their braids under their cap. This diptych was separated for about 125 years when the Mauritshuis managed to located and buy the portrait of Jakob von Omphal, reuniting the diptych once again. Painting from 1538-1539.