BP-catalogue2023#Final - Flipbook - Page 24
Adriaen van de Venne was a draftsman, painter and
poet. He was one of the most important illustrators
of poems and emblems of the Dutch Golden Age.
Born in Delft in 1599 to a wealthy family from Lier
in Flanders who had emigrated to the Northern
Netherlands. He was sent to Leiden to learn Latin,
where he also discovered drawing and painting.
After a period in the studio of the Leyden painter
and goldsmith Simon de Valck, he continued his
apprenticeship with Hieronymus van Dients, a
painter specializing in grisailles. Around 1614, he
moved to Middelburg where he remained until 1624,
joining his father but also his brother Jan Pietersz,
himself a publisher, printer and art dealer. The two
brothers frequently collaborated together producing
numerous books. The name of van de Venne is
closely associated with that of Jacob Cats (15771660), one of the most important Dutch writers of
the seventeenth century, who had many of his works
illustrated by the artist.
No engraving is known from the present drawing,
although the outlines have been carefully incised for
transfer to the engraved plate. It is likely that this was
an illustration project that was eventually abandoned.
Two of Jacob Cats’ main works illustrated by van de
Venne mention the death of Samson at the hands
of the Philistines and the betrayal of Delilah. These
are Hovwelyck and Trou-ringh, published in 1625
and 1637 respectively. In both books, Van de Venne’s
illustrations measure approximately 10 x 13 cm, which
corresponds to the dimensions of the present sheet.
Like David Vinckboons (1576-1629), van de Venne
was accustomed to using pen, brown ink and gray
wash for his drawings intended for engraving. But,
even more than the Flemish painter to whom he is
sometimes compared, he is concerned with detailing
all the elements of his composition. He creates an
extremely detailed composition where the forms clash
and where the details and expressions are not without
humor. With great precision, van de Venne’s designs
are reminiscent of the art of miniature painting. The
way in which the artist suggests the play of light
on the volumes by varying the intensity of the wash
strictly limited to the forms and thus anticipating the
work of the engraver, is of a remarkable subtlety.
The drawing was mounted on the back of an
explanatory leaf of a work by the architects Charles
Percier and Pierre Fontaine. The latter had assembled
an important collection of paintings and drawings,
some of which were mounted in the same way. The
collection passed to his daughter Anne-Sophie and
her husband Symphorien-Louis Meunié, himself an
architect. By descent, the collection was transferred to
Belgium during the twentieth century.