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Johannes Petrus van Horstok , Dutch, 1745-1825

Title

Portrait of Jean-Jacques Dessont (1760-1809)

Date1801

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

49.8 x 39.3 cm

Signedlower left: J.P. Horstock, fecit 1801 / [?] August [in or u]

Credit LinePresented, Sir Hugh Lane, 1913

Object numberNGI.650

Label TextJean-Jacques Dessont sits at his desk, pen poised, surrounded by a variety of props that reveal that he is an educated man of science and industry. Between 1794 and 1809, Dessont was secretary of the economics division of the Society of Sciences and Humanities in Haarlem, The Netherlands. The still life on the floor includes a small plough, crucibles, and hanks of wool in an urn, while Dessont’s name is barely discernible on the folded letter on the table. The northern Netherlandish artist Horstok inscribed his signature on the tromp l’oeil step.