17th Century Dutch Sculpture

1. The emergence of national Dutch sculpture

At an early stage, the development of Dutch sculpture was slowed down by Protestant canons, who fought with too much luxury. In this regard, the Dutch church sculpture seriously lagged behind the Flemish. The main sculptural heritage of the period is the decoration of civilian buildings and monuments to prominent citizens.

Freed from the yoke of foreign power, the northern Dutch people, more talented than their Flemish brothers in the field of painting in the true sense of the word, lagged behind the South Netherlands sculpture, rich in its achievements, primarily because the reformed church rejected plastic images for decorations. In addition to wood-carved chairs, benches and organ rails, the Protestant churches of Holland tolerated plastic sculptures only on tombs. Many tombstones of the Dutch churches were performed by Belgian sculptors, and if the Dutch left the glory they gained, having brought to life the grandest work of secular sculpture in the Netherlands, adorned the Amsterdam city hall with sculptural decorations, it was in this case that they were in Belgian hands . The most capable Dutch sculptor of the early 17th century, Adrien de Vries (Fries) from The Hague (circa 1560–1627) left his homeland to study in Italy under the guidance of Giovanni da Bologna, and then develop a rich activity in Germany, where we will meet him . In the history of Dutch art, he plays no role. On the contrary, the Dutch, as Galland showed, still created their own folk genre plastics, decorating public buildings, institutes, guild houses, houses for the poor, hospitals, exchanges, and front reliefs, realistically and vividly depicting what was happening in them. If the view on which the rudiments of Dutch genre painting lie here goes too far, then nevertheless it cannot be denied that some of these reliefs for the first time informed the images from the life of the people the action within a certain space, in accordance with the requirements of the century. For proof, one can point to unnamed works of this kind, another half Italianizing mannered relief depicting soldiers of 1587 at the Amsterdam Military Hospital and a weaker, but more realistic relief of the tailor's guild in Goorn. On a similar ground are some statues of portals. The statues on the portal of the Town Hall in Bolsvård still belong to the imitative old antique style, but the personifications of commerce and navigation in the form of coarse Frisland peasant girls belong to the new realism of the XVII century.

National tombstones originally consisted of tombstones laid flat in the ground with a relief image of the deceased in rich clothing, face up. They were followed, as elsewhere, by wall boards (epitaphs), decorated with modest portrait busts or reliefs. Great tombstones came from Belgium with a construction in the form of a triumphal arch with columns over the sarcophagus; It is instructive that the most famous Dutch sculptor of the early 17th century executed not only the most important realistic door reliefs mentioned above, but also the most magnificent tombstone of Holland.

This master was Hendrik de Keyser (1565–1621), with whom we had already met as an architect. Like his teacher Cornelis Blomarth, he was actually a sculptor. In Amsterdam, he had the title of "city mason". In his buildings and in his sculptural works, he hesitated between national realism and international eclecticism. His oldest known sculpture is a small relief of 1595 at the gates of an Amsterdam prison. He depicts a woman flogging harnessed leopards. His first known sculpture of the XVII century - jewelry work, the gold cup (1604) of the Guild of Martin in Gaarlem, decorated with a rather mannered, but life-like relief from the life of St.. Martin This is followed by realistic reliefs on the boards of the city pawnshop and the House of Deposits in Amsterdam, which naturally and effectively depict the activities at the pawnshop and in the depositors house. The adjoining relief on the "Spinning House" in 1607 depicts the fate of a diligent and lazy spinner. The late De Keyser period includes the tomb of Wilhelm the Silent in the new church in Delft and the monument of Erasmus of Rotterdam in the large market Meuse Gafenstadt.

The tomb of William of Orange (1616–1620) is a temple-like structure of white and variegated marble and gray tufa limestone. The figures are cast in bronze. On the sarcophagus rests dead in a shroud. Ahead, on the steps, sits the commander in armor, with his head bare, in a full movement pose. Behind him, the goddess of glory, without which the case rarely manages, blows into the pipe. In the external niches of the pillars, each furnished with two Doric columns supporting the arch, stand the personification of the valor of the statesman. It is not necessary to squander praise to the structure, or to individual figures, or to the forms of bodies, no matter how well they were conceived, nor clothes, no matter how artistically they fell. This work remains eclectic and the work of the epigone.

The statue of Erasmus (1621), standing on a high pedestal, in a long mantle and in a cap, lowering his eyes in an open book, which he holds with both hands, also does not represent anything really remarkable either in terms of body performance, or in the transmission of spiritual expression. But it is one of the oldest, if not the most ancient, of the monuments to scientists, erected in a public square, and as such is already significant. None of the Belgian sculptors of that era is before us as versatile and direct as Gendrik de Keyser.

Liven de Key, also a Gaarlem "city mason", was a sculptor. He owns a life-rich relief of figures on the portal of the hospital of sv. Barbarians in Gaarlem (1624) and a tavern scene on the frieze of a Gaarlem house.

Of the pupils of Gendrik, who worked mainly in England, his sons Peter and Willem de Keyser, Bernard Janssen and the Englishman Nicolas Ston deserve mention. In Holland, only from Peter de Keyser, his own works, which have a certain significance, are preserved. The tombstone to Wilhelm Ludwig Nassauskom (died in 1620) in the Church of Jacob in Leyvardenen represents the state soldier of Friesland, in front of the baroque niche, kneeling in prayer, between the female figures of Wisdom and Constancy. The monument to Admiral Piet Hein (died in 1629) in the old church in Delft depicts a glorious winner in full arms at sea praying on a sarcophagus under a small Doric temple. Stylistically, these works of Peter did not go any further than the works of the late period of his father, which are inferior in artistic terms.

The chairs of the Protestant Dutch churches are sometimes rich in architectural forms, even if they are carved without sculptural decorations: such is the magnificent cathedral of the Church of Michael in Zwolle (1617–1622), performed by the German carver Adam Straß from Weilburg; such is the rich seat of the old church in Vianene (1624), covered with an elegant and protective canopy.

After that, there is no need to be surprised that the Catholic community in Herzogenbush invited foreigners to plastic decorate their temples. The beautiful Lettner from Herzogenbush, which can now be admired at the South Kensington Museum in London, Konrat van Noremberg, probably a pupil of Francois (Francesco) Duquesnau in Rome, decorated in 1611–1613. abundant, noble figured ornaments Italian style.

2. Further Development of Dutch Sculpture

The development of Dutch sculpture in the second half of the XVII century is determined by the elaborated national canons. The decoration of public buildings and the rich decoration of monuments to prominent figures of the republic are the areas of the greatest application of the strength of Dutch sculptors. In general, Dutch works of the period are characterized by a high level of realism.

The Dutch sculpture of the second half of the 17th century was influenced by a book on the joinery art of Crispin van der Passe (born in 1586) who worked in the style of Hans Vredemann de Vries, falling somewhat into baroque. But the classicism of Jacob van Kampen in this area soon became a counterweight. A grand wooden chair (1649) by Albert Winkenbrink (circa 1604–1665) in the new church in Amsterdam makes a noble and unique impression. Supported by soaring angels, overshadowed by a tent-shaped fabric, it is decorated with clean relief figures of evangelists and virtues. On the eagle there rests the pulpit (1659–1662) of the church of Sts. Martin in Bolsward, whose decorations are already abundant in natural plant forms.

When it was then necessary to decorate the magnificent Amsterdam Town Hall of Jacob van Kampen with sculptures, they called Artus Quellinus the Elder from Antwerp, whose works made him the glory of the “eighth wonder of the world” in the eyes of his contemporaries. His main assistants were his nephew Artus Quellinus Jr. and Rombout Vergülst; Simon Bosboom of Emden (1614, died after 1670) and the aforementioned Albert Winkenbrink were also appointed his assistants. All the freshness and craftsmanship of the old Quellinus is discovered by most of the clay models for the sculptural decorations of the town hall, which remain in the Amsterdam State Museum. On the outside of the town hall, two powerful flat middle gables of the eastern and western facades deserve attention. All the mythical inhabitants of the ocean, on the western four parts of the world, with their characteristic gifts, accompanied by typical representatives of the animal world, full of naturalness and life mood, bow to the eastern tower of Amsterdam, the Amsterdam Maiden. On the tops of the gables stand on the east side bronze figures of Justice, Peace and Wisdom, on the west - the Atlas supporting the globe, between Moderation and Vigilance figures, grandly conceived and freshly executed.

Fig. 160. Artus Quellinus Sr. Wall relief in Amsterdam City Hall

Inside the town hall, the former courtroom, the so-called "Vierschaar", is a brilliant room. Three marble reliefs of the western side, separated from each other by two ionizing pairs, caryatids, personifying Shame and Punishment, are depicted in a lively story and in a fresh language of forms, in a picturesque relief style, in the court of Solomon, the sentence of Junius Brutus, passed to his sons, and Justice Zalivka ordering you. his own eye for the salvation of his son Higher, separated by Corinthian pilasters, painted with the Last Judgment. On the eastern wall there are beautiful statues of Justice and Wisdom in noble robes and expressive features in niches. Further famous are the eight powerful lives of the high-relief figures of the Roman gods: in the former northern gallery of Jupiter and Apollon, Mercury and Diana, in the former southern gallery (present dining room) Saturn and Cybele, Mars and Venus, all with their traditional attributes, are all typical in postures and movements . Above the entrance doors to various offices, adjacent to this gallery, are fitted rectangular frames with embossed figures explaining the purpose of the rooms: Argus and Io above the office of the burmormistra, Arion on the dolphin above the insurance department of ships, Daedalus and Icarus above the department for cases of termination of payments. “Loyalty” and “Modesty” above the door of the secretariat are performed by Rombout Vergülst.

Plastic figures and groups of large banquet halls can not be compared with most of these sculptures, neither sculptural completeness nor vitality; on the east side is the city of Amsterdam, surrounded by Strength, Wisdom and Abundance, against it Justice with retinue and Atlas with the globe. These figures, no doubt, are executed by the disciples. By itself, a significant, chimney frieze in the burgomaster's office, with the triumph of Maxim Kunctator, also does not show the hands of Quellinus. According to Galland, it should be attributed to the mentioned Albert Winkenbrink.

Artus Quellinus the Elder is also a wonderful portrait painter in Holland. His marble bust of the Amsterdam burgomaster Cornelis de Greff in the State Museum presents an outstanding work in the sense of comprehending a spiritually noble personality and penetrating individual facial features. Relief portraits of the same burgomaster and his wife in 1660 in the State Museum adjoin them. The bust of the ratspensioner Jan de Wit in 1665 of the Dordrecht Museum stands at the height of the master's art.

Of the students of Quellinus, Rombout Vergülst (1624–1696; van Notten's book) was the closest to him, and after finishing the sculptural works in the town hall, he remained in Holland and created a number of remarkable works here. The gravestone monument to the great Admiral Tromp (died in 1653) in the old church in Delft belongs to his best works. The front side of the sarcophagus, on which the famous sea hero rests in full armor, is decorated with a relief with a sea battle in which he died. Decorative parts of this monument performed by Willem de Keyser. A rather peculiar tombstone to Mr. von Inn and Kniphausen in the church in Mitvold (1664), representing a still living widow in a half-prone posture near the late husband’s sparse sarcophagus, also belongs to Vergülst’s best works. These masterpieces of Vergülst surpass almost all other Dutch sculptures of the 17th century with an expressive life and penetrating cutter technique. His third large tombstone standing near the wall of the tomb (1677-1681) of the famous Admiral de Ruyter in the New Church in Amsterdam is poor in appearance, and the side figures are the goddess of Glory, trumpeting into the pipe, newts blowing in the shells, and female figures of Wisdom and Permanences - they produce a somewhat strange impression, but the portrait figure of the military leader lying on the sarcophagus is remarkable for its strikingly pronounced character and fascinating naturalness.

Fig. 161. Part of the tombstone of Inn- and Kniphausen by Rombout Vergülst in Mitwold

It is also instructive that Vergülst in Holland also took up the realistic reliefs on the facades mentioned above. His high relief on the “Hanging House” in Leiden, vividly depicting the scene of weighing, and his lively market scene in the oil market in Leiden (1662) belong to the most recent works of this kind.

In addition to these works, we also call the tombstone to Admiral van der Gülst (1666) in the Old Church in Amsterdam, somewhat dull in his pompousness; conceived in a classic spirit, with a relief plinth representing the sea battle, the tombstone of Admiral de Witte in the Church of Lawrence in Rotterdam (1660) and the magnificent monument of Admiral Jacob van Vassener, the work of Bartholomeus Eggers in the Church of James in The Hague (1667), depicting a hero under the on Corinthian columns. Thus, we have made a review of the most famous tombstones of sea heroes, capturing with that the further development of all Dutch sculpture. In fact, the work of Eggers stands already at the transition to the almost pathetic classicism that had been established in Holland by the end of the century. The Eggers' important relief of its kind, which is a weigh-in, at the Weighted House in Goode (1669) points to this turn if we compare it with the relief on the same Vergulst theme in Leiden, which arose ten years earlier.