Portrait of a standard-bearer of the Leiden militia by Ary de Vois is now on display at Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden.
Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, South Holland had attempted to buy the portrait by local artist Ary de Vois (c.1631/33-80) more than 25 years ago. The subject is of particular importance: it depicts a flag bearer, a young man in full guardsman regalia, from one of Leiden’s civic militia companies.
The picture has changed hands a number of times in recent memory.
When it was offered at auction at Christie’s in Monaco in 1995 the museum lost out to Swiss investor JE Safra of the Safra banking family. It was more recently sold as part of the Safra collection at a Christie’s New York sale of Old Masters in June 2022.
London art dealer Van Haeften agreed a sale to the Association of Interested Parties of Museum De Lakenhal for long-term loan to the museum.
The €470,000 (£414,000) price was raised via a number of organisations including funds from The Rembrandt Association and The School of Life Amsterdam.
