Portrait of Martin Opitz

This is one of Bartholomeus Strobel’s best portraits, despite his usual difficulty with properly painting the model’s hands. In his portraits, he used the Dutch bourgeois portrait scheme. In the portrait of the poet Martin Opitz, the painter emphasized the spiritual element, idealizing his features. The feverish expression of the eyes and the modeling of the blush on the cheeks give the impression of genuine interaction with the viewer. The poet’s hand resting on his hip likely underscores his independence of beliefs (religious) and pride in his intellectual achievements.

Martin Opitz, a poet born in Bolesławiec, was a very close figure to the painter and likely influenced his allegorical compositions. Above all, Opitz immortalized Strobel in his poetry. He was one of the refugees from Silesia to Poland, seeking asylum from imperial repressions. He wrote opera librettos performed at the court of the Polish King Władysław IV. He dedicated his “Variarum lectionum liber,” published in Gdańsk in 1637, to Tomasz Zamoyski, the Grand Chancellor of the Crown.

Opitz’s creative activity brought him great recognition, and in 1629, he became a member of the elite Fruitbearing Society (Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft). The poet was also involved in politics and diplomacy, serving various lords during the turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War—successively the Czech insurgents, the Habsburgs, the Swedes, and the Polish King Władysław IV Vasa, who in 1637 accepted Opitz into his court and appointed him court historiographer. However, Opitz struggled with loyalty and maintained contact with the Swedes, informing them of the Polish king’s intentions.

He died in Gdańsk, where he contracted the plague during an epidemic. He was buried in St. Mary’s Church in Gdańsk. The tombstone of Martin Opitz is still preserved in the northern nave of the church.