Mayor Justus Datho Quintus (1786-1795, 1803-1811)

About this artwork.

Justus Datho Quintus (1733 - 1817), was a regent's son who started his career as a lawyer and became mayor of Groningen from 1786 to 1795. Quintus was one of the four mayors who knew Groningen at that time. In the French era, when the Netherlands was part of France, he served the city as maire (French term for mayor) from 1803 to 1811. In 1806 he opened the first meeting of the board in the not yet completely finished new City Hall on the Grote Markt. From 1814 until his death Quintus was a member of the Provincial Council and was subsequently elected as a member of the Provincial Executive of Groningen.

The mayor's portrait was painted in the early nineteenth century by Benjamin Samuel Bolomey (1739 - 1819). The portrait was donated to the City Hall. Benjamin Samuel Bolomey was a Swiss painter and moved to The Hague in 1763 to work as a court painter. He portrayed Quintus wearing a wig and a medal that – so it seems – was given in the French period by Louis Napoleon or his brother Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French. It was about the end of the wig era, Quintus is therefore the last mayor of Groningen depicted with a wig.

Facts & Figures.

• Artist(s)
  Benjamin Samuel Bolomey

• Year of creation
  Unknown

• Dimensions (in cm)
  96x78

• Collection
  Town Hall Collection

• Technic
  Oil paint on canvas