Portrait of Prince Diponegoro - Jean Augustin Daiwaille

A nineteenth-century lithograph portrait of the Javanese leader Prince Diponegoro, executed by the Dutch artist Jean Augustin Daiwaille.

This lithograph depicts Prince Diponegoro, a Javanese nobleman who led a significant resistance against Dutch colonial rule in the early nineteenth century. Jean Augustin Daiwaille, a Dutch portrait painter and lithographer, produced this work around 1830, shortly after the conclusion of the Java War. The print captures the subject in a formal, dignified manner, wearing traditional Javanese attire including a turban and a keris tucked into his sash.

The technical execution reflects the precision of early nineteenth-century lithography. Daiwaille employs subtle tonal gradations to model the features of the face and the folds of the fabric, creating a sense of volume against the stark, unadorned background. The composition is centred, focusing the viewer entirely on the individual. Below the portrait, the text identifies the subject as 'Diepo Negoro', describing him as the 'Hoofd der Muiterlingen op Java' (Leader of the rebels on Java) in both Dutch and French.

This work belongs to a period when European interest in the cultures and political figures of the East Indies was growing. As a portrait, it offers a historical record of a figure who occupied a complex position in colonial history. The print is part of the collection held by the Rijksmuseum, reflecting the documentation of colonial-era figures through the medium of printmaking. The restrained palette and clear line work are characteristic of the period's portraiture, which sought to balance descriptive accuracy with a formal presentation of the sitter.