Lot 126: Jacques de Gheyn II (Antwerp 1565-1629 The Hague)

Jacques de Gheyn II (Antwerp 1565-1629 The Hague) A sheet with studies after engravings by Lucas van Leyden and Albrecht Dürer black chalk, pen and brown ink, black chalk framing lines 5 5/8 x 8 in. (14.4 x 20.4 cm.)

14.4 x 20.4 cm.

The Hague, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, Hollandse tekeningen rond 1600, bijeengebracht door de Interuniversitaire Kunsthistorische Studentenorganisatie in Nederland, 1952, no. 33. Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and Washington DC, National Gallery of Art, Jacques de Gheyn II als tekenaar 1565-1629, 1985-6, not in the catalogue (catalogue by A.T. van Deursen et. al.).

I.Q. van Regteren Altena, Jacques de Gheyn: An Introduction to the Study of his Drawings, Amsterdam, 1935, p. 97. I.Q. van Regteren Altena, Jacques de Gheyn: Three Generations, The Hague, 1983, II, no. 1041, III, pl. 34. N. Peeters, in Dessins du Siècle d'or hollandais: La collection Jean de Grez, exhib. cat., Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, 2007, pp. 30 and 32, fig. 3. J. Shoaf Turner and C. White, Dutch & Flemish Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, I, pp. 111-12, under no. 65.

Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (1680-1765) (L. 2951-2), with his paraph and number '2320'. Gabriel Huquier (1695-1772); A. Dankmeyer, Amsterdam, 14 September 1761, part of lot 2931 ('...en een Koning te paard met zyn Stoet'; 1.14 guilders to Fouquet, with another lot). Prince Wladimir Argoutinsky-Dolgoroukoff (1874-1941) (L. 2602d). with R.W.P. de Vries, Amsterdam; from whom purchased by I.Q. van Regteren Altena in April 1927 for 35 guilders (Inventory book: '319. t. de Gheyn Copien n. Lucas').

This sheet shows de Gheyn copying from prints by two of the Northern Old Masters who had the greatest impact on the draughtsmen of the Golden Age: the main group of figures shows Ahasuerus with his entourage from Lucas van Leyden's engraving (1494-1533) Triumph of Mordecai (Bartsch 32; Fig.1), while the heads in the lower part of the sheet are copied from The Last Supper (Bartsch 5), Christ in Gethsemane (Bartsch 6) and Ecce Homo (Bartsch 9), from the Large Passion series of woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Another sheet with head studies after The Last Supper, attributed to de Gheyn, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Turner and White, op. cit., no. 65). These copies should be seen as part of de Gheyn's continued efforts to absorb the lessons of the masters of the past. In choosing to study from these artists, he was following in the footsteps of other artists in his circle, who felt that the simplicity and power of the Northern Renaissance style could add sincerity to their own works. For example, in 1593-94 Goltzius had executed large-scale engravings which imitated the styles of the Old Masters he admired, among whom van Leyden and Dürer took prime position. Indeed, Goltzius's emulation was so faithful that his print of The Circumcision (Hollstein 12), in the manner of Dürer, apparently convinced his contemporaries that they had unearthed a previously unknown work by the master. De Gheyn's copies after van Leyden and Dürer should therefore be seen in this context: as part of a half-playful, half-scholarly experimentation among the artists in his circle, including Karel van Mander as well as Goltzius. Another sheet of copies after Lucas van Leyden is in the de Grez Collection in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (Peeters, op. cit.), while the van Regteren Altena collection includes another copy by de Gheyn after van Leyden's Saint Christopher (to be offered in May 2015).