Skeleton of the unknown pirate comes home

His name and reputation have been lost to history, but the skeleton of an executed English pirate is finally coming home. The likeness of the remains was captured for posterity by the artist Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy in a remarkable painting showing the work of the Guild of Surgeons in Amsterdam.

That work, The Osteology Lesson of Dr Sebastiaen Egbertsz, is set to be a highlight of an exhibition of 17th-century Dutch painting at the National Gallery in London this summer.

It has never been shown in Britain but is important as an example of a genre of anatomy-lesson paintings that are peculiar to the Netherlands. The work, known as "the laughing skeleton" because of its apparent smile, clearly shows a horizontal line across the skull where the cranium could be opened.

Announcing the show yesterday, Betsy Wieseman, the curator, said: "Unlike corpses or cadavers, the benefit of a skeleton is that you could use it repeatedly for demonstrations."

Inventories show the skeleton was that of a pirate who was captured, executed and his body dissected. It was borrowed by Dr Sebastiaen Egbertsz in 1615 for anatomy lessons organised by the surgeons' guild.

The work will be joined in the exhibition by one of Rembrandt's most important works, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, another rare loan from the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Both are examples of portraits commissioned by the newly established 17th-century Dutch bourgeoisie, often in styles traditionally associated with European royalty and aristocracy.

The exhibition, Dutch Portraits: The Age of Rembrandt and Frans Hals, will show the subjects were more varied than the dour Protestants dressed in black with white ruffs for which the period is famed. It will include pictures of rare baby twins, elderly couples and family groups depicting the newly well-to-do in aspirational idyllic garden settings.

Ms Wieseman said this would be the first exhibition to survey the whole of 17th-century Dutch portraiture. It was prompted by the Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell, which was keen to celebrate its 100th anniversary in the Netherlands with a great Dutch exhibition, and will include 60 works by 29 artists.

Ms Wieseman said: "This was an exciting time for Dutch citizens. It was the first time they had the opportunity to construct their identity as a nation and as individuals." The exhibition runs at the National Gallery from 27 June to 16 September.