Gerrit Reynst (also known as Gerard Reynst) was, like his younger brother Jan

Jan Reynst

Jan Reynst was a Protestant Dutch merchant in Amsterdam and, with his elder brother Gerrit, an art collector. In 1625 he went to Venice...

 (1601-29 June 1646), a Dutch merchant and art collector from Amsterdam. He was an alderman and member of the town council

Vroedschap

The vroedschap was the name for the city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a vroedman, literally a "wise man"...

, entering it in 1646.

The Collection

Gerrit's collection included Italian old-master paintings and antiquities, such as The Ecstasy of St Paul by Johann Liss

Johann Liss

Johann Liss was a leading German Baroque painter of the 17th century, active mainly in Venice.-Biography:...

. After Gerrit's death in 1658, drown in the Keizersgracht, the collection dispersed into English, German and other Dutch collections, including what is now the Antikensammlung Berlin

Antikensammlung Berlin

The Antikensammlung Berlin is one of the most important collections of classical art in the world, now held in the Altes Museum and Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It contains thousands of ancient archaeological artefacts from the ancient Greek, Roman, Etruscan and Cypriot civilizations...

, and some remained with his widow Anna. The Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

 bought 24 of the best Italian paintings and 12 of the best Classical sculptures from Gerrit's widow in 1660 for 80,000 gulden, via Heer van Outshoorn.http://www.oldandsold.com/articles27n/gerard-dou-3.shtml This collection was given to English King Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 (many of the paintings in it had previously been in Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

's collection, and been sold to Reynst by the Commonwealth government) on his return from the Netherlands to England, and is known as the Dutch Gift

Dutch Gift

The Dutch Gift of 1660 was a collection of 28 mostly Italian Renaissance paintings and 12 classical sculptures, along with a yacht, the Mary, and furniture, which was presented to King Charles II of England by the States-General of the Netherlands in 1660...

. One of the paintings may have been Guercino's, "Semiramis Receiving Word of the Revolt of Babylon". (A series of engravings of pictures from his collection was made sometime before his death, including one by Jeremias Falk of Guercino's Semiramis.)

External links

• The "Cabinet" of the Brothers Gerard and Jan Reynst
• Notes on the 'Dutch Gift' to Charles II:I
• Guercino's Paintings of Semiramis
• Group portrait

Further reading

• Anne-Marie S. Logan, "The 'Cabinet' of the Brothers Gerard and Jan Reynst" (Amsterdam, 1979).