Books / Chapters by Marjolein Leesberg
Cat. no. 42: Bartholomaeus Spranger?
Cat. no. 44: Karel van Mander
Cat. no. 45: Abraham Bloemaert... more Cat. no. 42: Bartholomaeus Spranger?
Cat. no. 44: Karel van Mander
Cat. no. 45: Abraham Bloemaert of een ateliermedewerker
Cat. no. 49: Jacob Matham
Cat. nos. 68-70: Pieter de Jode I
On most other plates, though, the signatures were added in a later edition, after his rise to fam... more On most other plates, though, the signatures were added in a later edition, after his rise to fame, by Theodoor Galle (nos. 69, 71, 73) and Hendrick Hondius (nos. 59-67). Another series for Galle, traditionally attributed to Goltzius as designer and engraver, is the Virtues and Vices with the Last Judgement (nos. 96-111). Like the other early series, they were signed only in a later state, on the title plate with 'HG fe' and on the last plate with 'HG sculpsit'. That last plate in particular, depicting the Last Judgement, has been described as typical of Goltzius's style during this period and comparable to one of his engravings after Stradanus's Last Judgement (no. 344).^^ The seated Virtues and Vices are also comparable to a similar series of seated virtues after Maarten de Vos designed around the same time.^3 Some of the figures are related to the seated women in Goltzius's slightly later Story ofLucretia (nos. 159-62), for example the figure of Faith and the central figure in Lucretia and her Handmaids spinning, the figure of Justice and Lucretia in the Suicide of Lucretia. The Virtues and Vices have their standing counterparts in the Five Senses published by Philips Galle around the same year, 1578, and signed by Goltzius ['Golsius'] as designer only but generally attributed to him as engraver as well (nos. 194-98). Karei van Mander did not mention Goltzius's work for the publishing firm Aux Quatre Vents, the address used by Volcxken Diericx after the death of her husband Hieronymus Cock in 1570. Besides some prints after Maarten de Vos (nos. 365-67) Goltzius produced his first large-scale print, Christ with the Cross, for Cock's widow, and proudly signed it 'HGoltzius inventor et sculptor' (no. 51). Although the full-length figure of Christ, surrounded by smaller scènes of the acts of mercy, is stylistically very close to the Allegories based on the Life ofChrist that Goltzius made for Galle in 1578 (nos. 52-58). Goltzius seems to have had a much more independent position when he created this ambitious plate. Apparently he had a say in the choice of the author of the verses, an aspect of printmaking that was usually controlled by the publisher who commissioned the print. The verses both above and below Christ are attributed to Cornelius Schonaeus, the Neo-Latin poet with whom Goltzius worked in Haarlem. The earliest dated appearance of poetry by Schonaeus on a print by Goltzius are the verses on the Portrait of Allaert Fransz. Schatter of 1581. The plate of Christ can be dated around 1580. Portraits (i$y8-go): sitters in copper, silver and gold Goltzius's portrait of his father (no. 223), signed by the young artist and dated 1578, is probably his earliest portrait engraving.^5 Almost all the other ones, as well as the portrait drawings dating from the years 1578-90, were made on commission. Starting in Haarlem in 1578 as an unknown young artist Goltzius had to make a living and must soon have become known among the elite as an excellent portraitist. The fact that his output of engraved portraits feil off sharply after his trip to Italy in 1590-91 probably means that he could now afford to do without this commission work.^^ Many of the small oval portraits, dated between 1579 and 1585, were probably engraved in silver or even gold plates.*7 Only three of them are known to have survived: two silver medaillons with the portraits of unidentified sitters (no. 273, fig. 2, no. 274) and the gold medaillon with the portrait of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (no. 213). All three have inscriptions that were engraved unreversed on the plate, so they appear reversed in printed impressions. A considerable number of impressions were taken from all three plates, which seems to indicate that these medallions were indeed meant to be printed. They were probably delivered to the sitters together with a number of impressions.^* Some plates may have been used mainly privately, for example the small oval portrait of someone called Du Bols (no. 208) and the tiny diamondshaped portrait of Goltzius's friend, the painter
Papers by Marjolein Leesberg
Simiolus 45, 2023
A history and analysis of the history, progress, and future of the Hollstein- and New Hollstein-s... more A history and analysis of the history, progress, and future of the Hollstein- and New Hollstein-series, written in memory of Ger Luijten.
Oud-Holland, 2009
A large panel of the Last Supper (fig. 1) can now be attributed to Karel van Mander the Younger (... more A large panel of the Last Supper (fig. 1) can now be attributed to Karel van Mander the Younger (Haarlem c. 1583 – Delft 1623), after cleaning by the present owner, Douwes Fine Art in Amsterdam. The monogram at lower right (fig. 3), on the base of the pillar, has been identified as being that of the young artist and not of his father, the famous painter and writer of the Schilder-boeck, Karel van Mander the Elder. This painting is the first one by Karel van Mander the Younger to have been discovered.Although it is known that the young Karel van Mander had been trained as a painter in his father's workshop and registered at the latest in 1613 as a painter in the Delft guild of St Luke, the artist has until now only been known as a designer for tapestries. This he did from about 1604 at the workshop of François Spiering, which he left in 1615 to start his own tapestry workshop. The numerous sources on this period speak mostly of the difficult, troublemaking character of Van Mander, who's family fled to Denmark after his untimely death in 1623.The Last Supper is intriguing for its many borrowings from prints by and after artists from Karel van Mander the Elder's circle. The pose of several figures as well as some details of the tableware appear to have been derived from a large print by Jan Harmensz. Muller after a painting by Gillis Coignet (fig. 5). Three oddly large hands of figures at left, centre and right, are…
Nederlandsch kunsthistorisch jaarboek, 1991
Delineavit et Sculpsit 50, 2022
Delineavit et Sculpsit 49, 2020
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Books / Chapters by Marjolein Leesberg
Cat. no. 44: Karel van Mander
Cat. no. 45: Abraham Bloemaert of een ateliermedewerker
Cat. no. 49: Jacob Matham
Cat. nos. 68-70: Pieter de Jode I
Papers by Marjolein Leesberg
Cat. no. 44: Karel van Mander
Cat. no. 45: Abraham Bloemaert of een ateliermedewerker
Cat. no. 49: Jacob Matham
Cat. nos. 68-70: Pieter de Jode I
The British Library holds a unique print of this Game of Cupid, published in Antwerp about 1620 by the Flemish engraver, designer and print publisher Pieter de Jode I (1573-1634). Early impressions of board games are extremely rare since they were objects of use, paper pasted on board, to be discarded when worn out. The present print is even more remarkable for the fact that all inscriptions, the title, the rules, and even the Antwerp address of the publisher, are in Spanish.