# What is this man holding in his hand in these paintings (17th cent.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809 "2009-06-15T06:12:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/1 "2009-06-15T06:12:21Z")
[In this painting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frederik_Hendrik_by_Michiel_Jansz_van_Mierevelt.jpg) of Prince Frederick Henry of Orange (son of William the Silent) he is posing in a fine suit of cuirassier armor and holding what looks like a plain wooden stick in his hand. In [this painting,](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Prins_Frederik_Hendrik_en_graaf_Ernst_Casimir_bij_het_beleg_van_%27s-Hertogenbosch%2C_1629_(Pauwels_van_Hillegaert%2C_1635).jpg) as well, he is shown on horseback leading a regiment of cuirassiers and holding the same stick in his hand, this time extending it out to the side, as if pointing to something. What is this stick? It doesn’t appear to be a weapon of any kind, and it is obviously too short to be a cane or some other type of walking stick. What, then, is this? Is it some kind of telescope? Is it an item of some ceremonial significance? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/2 "2009-06-15T06:18:53Z")
I’m guessing it’s a [baton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_(symbol)). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/3 "2009-06-15T06:24:46Z")
It’s his magic wand. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/4 "2009-06-15T06:26:58Z")
It’s called a wand of office, baton of office or rod of office. It signifies the holder holds influence in some specific job such as chancellor. Exactly what position it signifies for Freddy is something you could probably find out if you knew what office she held when the paintings were done. Do a Google image search for those terms and portrait and you’ll find lots of other examples. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/5 "2009-06-15T09:09:14Z")
At the time both paintings were produced, Frederik Hendrik was [stadtholder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadtholder) of several of the Dutch provinces and [captain-general](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain-General#Netherlands) of the Dutch army. But I wouldn’t assume that his baton is the actual insignia of either position. At this date such batons tended to be used more as a generic symbol of military command. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/6 "2009-06-15T09:42:09Z")
An inanimate carbon rod. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/7 "2009-06-15T12:00:38Z")
Here’s another one from the Prado museum in Madrid: [http://wikanda.sevillapedia.es/wiki/Imagen:Duque\_olivares.jpg](http://wikanda.sevillapedia.es/wiki/Imagen:Duque_olivares.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/8 "2009-06-15T14:49:57Z")
The TV remote. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/9 "2009-06-15T15:08:08Z")
Telescope ? Wiki says [The earliest evidence of working telescopes were the refracting telescopes that appeared in the Netherlands in 1608.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope) - early endorsement deal of a local product ? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/10 "2009-06-15T16:09:14Z")
> [@Cat\_Jones](#): > > Telescope ? Wiki says [The earliest evidence of working telescopes were the refracting telescopes that appeared in the Netherlands in 1608.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope) - early endorsement deal of a local product ? You cannot be serious. > [@](#): > > 1scep·ter > Pronunciation: \ˈsep-tər\ > Function: noun > Etymology: Middle English sceptre, from Anglo-French septre, from Latin sceptrum, from Greek skēptron staff, scepter, from skēptesthai to prop oneself — more at shaft > Date: 14th century > 1 : a staff or baton borne by a sovereign as an emblem of authority ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/11 "2009-06-15T16:23:16Z")
To comment, it was very common for a military leader to carry a batan. Witness Napolean’s famous line that “Every private went to war with a field marshall’s baton in his pack.” ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/12 "2009-06-15T16:23:35Z")
> [@APB](#): > > At this date such batons tended to be used more as a generic symbol of military command. Germany was using them as recently as WW II. [http://www.themarshalsbaton.com/](http://www.themarshalsbaton.com/) ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/13 "2009-06-15T17:10:24Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > Germany was using them as recently as WW II. And British field marshals still do. (The Duke of Kent, on the left, is holding one in [this picture](http://www.contactmusic.com/pics/lb/remembrance_sunday_2_091108/prince_william_2163056.jpg).) But the point I was trying to make is that they were often used in the seventeenth century, especially in paintings, simply to indicate that someone was a Very Important Military Person. The idea that only certain types of senior officers got one wasn’t codified until later. [QUOTE=sailor] Here’s another one from the Prado museum in Madrid: [http://wikanda.sevillapedia.es/wiki/...e\_olivares.jpg](http://wikanda.sevillapedia.es/wiki/...e_olivares.jpg) [/QUOTE] There are countless other examples as well. It had by then become a standard prop in military portraits throughout Europe. But the point historians usually make about the Olivares portrait is that the count-duke’s claims to be a military commander were tenuous at best and so this is more an example of a civilian using what had become the commonplace imagery of military glory in order to pretend to be a distinguished soldier. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/14 "2009-06-15T17:16:16Z")
If these guys were _so_ important, wouldn’t they have someone carrying their sticks _for_ them? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/15 "2009-06-15T17:19:16Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > To comment, it was very common for a military leader to carry a batan. Witness Napolean’s famous line that “Every private went to war with a field marshall’s baton in his pack.” For a second I thought you were making a joke and implying that every private did, indeed, carry a baton in his pack. (Although there are stories of drummers heavy drum batons and those eagles with spearheads being used in combat.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/16 "2009-06-15T17:20:15Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > You cannot be serious. As serious as posts 3, 6 & 8. :rolleyes: The OP asked > [@](#): > > Is it some kind of telescope? the idea tickled me but I see you were not amused and consider myself chastised. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/17 "2009-06-15T17:26:25Z")
> [@Cat\_Jones](#): > > As serious as posts 3, 6 & 8. :rolleyes: The OP asked the idea tickled me but I see you were not amused and consider myself chastised. I said “you cannot be serious” and I was right. On the other hand if you had said it was a [kaleidoscope](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaleidoscope) it would have made sense to take you resiously. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/18 "2009-06-15T17:34:37Z")
Ah - but it was in the wrong hand for a kaleidoscope 😉 (You’ve just taught me how to spell that btw, thanks.) ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/19 "2009-06-15T17:53:09Z")
Modern day photos: [http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota\_id=970026](http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=970026) [Recibiendo el Bastón de Mando | Fernando Lugo Méndez | Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernandolugoapc/2765934752/) [http://www.british-towns.net/britain/jubilee\_main.asp](http://www.british-towns.net/britain/jubilee_main.asp) [Autoridades Municipales | Autoridades con el bastón de mando… | Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/dimoru/369903758/) [http://www.daylife.com/photo/01LravW5nz69n](http://www.daylife.com/photo/01LravW5nz69n) Third ReichBaton: [http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/2391/100pxmarschallsstabld8.jpg](http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/2391/100pxmarschallsstabld8.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809/20 "2009-06-15T18:07:43Z")
Come, come, now. This is \*clearly \*a **pokin’ stick**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-man-holding-in-his-hand-in-these-paintings-17th-cent/499809.md?page=2)