81. OIDENTIFIERAD KONSTNÄR. circa 1800, portrait depicting Major Jacob Lorentz Staaf (1770-1814) at Kungl. Göta Artillery Regiment.

Oil on canvas, 32,5 x 26 cm

PROVENANCE: Stopalo
Christopher O'Regan Collection

Christopher tells us:
Who painted the portrait of the Gustavian officer is unknown to me, but fortunately he has noted who the sitting model is; Major Jacob Lorentz Staaf. And at the time of the portrait's creation, he was a staff captain at the Göta Artillery Regiment, which was located in Gothenburg.
But he is a fine example of the large number of young men who joined the great popular armament that took off when the field plan against Russia fell apart after Finnish separatists in the officer corps sabotaged the execution by mutiny and treachery. Throughout the country, countless young men entered the war service as volunteers and officers or petty officers, as well as men in volunteer militias. And one of them was Jacob Lorentz Staaf, who had just turned eighteen, became an ensign at the Skaraborg Free Corps in October 1788. An in my eyes an honorable man who took his responsibilities when dangers threatened his country.