Joop Hekman - P.C. Hooft VPK

In 1947 it was three hundred years ago that Pieter Cornelisz. Hooft (1581-1647) died. A good reason to remember this special seventeenth century poet, playwright, historian and administrator. This happened, among other things, through a solemn meeting in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, where the poet Nijhoff spoke. In that year he had published a selection of Hooft's poetry and an abridged edition of his Nederlandsche Historien. Hekman modeled the poet with a large lace collar that makes the head-to-shoulder ratio a bit uncomfortable, but the model looks cheerful at the world. The portrait is very graphically conceived; that goes with a striker. The Muiderslot where Hooft resided is on the back with a quote from his first biographer Geraert Brandt: 'Here you are where Hooft tried to be wise'.