Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck with his Wife and Children
by PRUD'HON, Pierre-Paul, Oil on canvas, 263,5 x 200 cm
From 1798 to 1802, Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (1761-1825) was the envoy of the Batavian Republic (as the Netherlands was then known) in Paris. However, Prud’hon did not portray him as a diplomat but as the head of a family, with his wife Catharina Nahuys, his twelve-year-old daughter Catharina and his eight-year-old son Gerrit. Prud’hon exhibited this painting at the Salon in Paris, with the title R�union de famille.