TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I Introduction I. Drawing ‘from nature’: sixteenth century Netherlandish artistic theory and practice I.1. Theory I.2. Practice II. Case studies II.1. Jan Gossaert II.2. Jan van Scorel II.3. Maarten van Heemskerck II.4. Hieronymus Cock II.5. Tobias Verhaecht Conclusion Bibliography PART II List of illustrations Illustrations Illustration front page: Maarten van Heemskerck, Forum Romanum seen from the Capitol (detail), Berlin, Staatliche Museum, Kupferstichkabinett, inv. KdZ 6696. Pen and brown ink, washed with bistre, 216 x 555 mm, signed and dated: Martijn hemskeric 1535 INTRODUCTION During the sixteenth century, many Netherlandish artists1 made a study trip to Italy, and more in particular to Rome, mainly as a completion of the artistic education they had started in their native country. Having arrived in the southern peninsula, they looked for prestigious commissions or employment in an Italian workshop. Many artists returned home after some years, others built up a life and career in the city and stayed. It has been generally acknowledged that northern artists travelled to Italy to learn from Antiquity and their contemporary Italian masters and that in Rome in particular, they made drawings of all the things they admired in the city which they could use in their work. Nonetheless, it remains questionable to what extent and for which purposes northern artists have collected visual material in Rome. Furthermore, it is certainly not clear if the practice of drawing ‘from nature’ may be regarded as one of the main reasons for sixteenth century northern artists to set off for a journey southwards. 2 We may assume that many sixteenth century ‘Roman drawings’ irrevocably have been lost in the course of the past centuries, which makes it impossible to gain a totally comprehensive view on sixteenth century northern artists’ drawing activities in the city. The large group of drawings preserved in numerous drawing cabinets and private collections all over the world however make it possible to reach significant conclusions. An important part of these Roman drawings consists of depictions of antique and contemporary architectural monuments and cityscapes, a group which can be covered with the term ‘vedute’. 3 1 With the indication ‘Netherlandish’ we mean both southern and northern Netherlandish artists. It is difficult to use ‘Flemish’ or ‘Dutch’ art in the context of sixteenth and seventeenth century art. Even after the Treaty of Münster in 1648, foreigners perceiving Netherlandish art apparently did not make clear distinctions between ‘Flemish’ or ‘Dutch’ art. We will further use the adjective ‘northern’ as a synonym for ‘Netherlandish’. ‘Flemish’ and ‘fiamminghi’ are terms that we prefer not to use. Although since the renaissance the terms referred to the culture and inhabitants of the whole of the Low Countries, including Westphalia and Liège, the names could be confused with present-day territory of the northern, Flemish part of Belgium, Vlaanderen . See Billen 1995; Vlieghe 1998b. 2 The aspect of drawing ‘from nature’ ( ‘naer het leven’ ) is rather complex within the context of sixteenth and seventeenth century art theory and practice. In the first chapter, we will examine this matter more deeply. We will further use the terms drawings ‘from nature’ and ‘from life’ as synonyms, as opposed to studio drawings. 3 We will use the Italian term veduta (plural: vedute ) interpreted in the broadest sense, meaning ‘a painting, drawing or print representing a landscape or town view that is largely topographical in conception, as opposed to the fantasy view or capriccio ’, though with the omission of the included possibilities of paintings and prints (see Wilton-Ely 1996, p. 110). The term in itself does not necessarily mean that a veduta is made entirely ‘from nature’. Although the term interpreted in the strict sense refers to eighteenth century cityscape paintings of Venice and Rome, it is also used in the art historical literature to describe sixteenth and seventeenth century topographical drawings made in Rome (see for instance the titles of some reference works on the subject: Römische Veduten. Handzeichnungen aus dem XV. bis XVIII. Jahrhundert zur Topographie der Stadt Rom (see Egger 1911-1931), Vedute Romane. Disegni dal XVI al XVIII secolo (see Roma 1971), 2 It is known that several sixteenth century northern artists have drawn extensively ‘on the spot’ in the city and its surroundings, but many extant drawings were also based on other models. When a Roman veduta becomes an object of present-day research, a crucial question to be asked is therefore whether or not the drawing is a direct study ‘from nature’. It could be argued that this is not always relevant to know, but it is certainly justified to ask how artists made use of drawings ‘from nature’ within the creative process. Although it is worthwhile to investigate the function of drawings ‘from nature’ within the work of a single artist, it becomes even more challenging when this particular aspect is studied within the broader context of a well-defined group of artists. The questions We would like to address in the present study are to what extent drawing ‘from nature’ in Rome was part of the artistic practice of sixteenth century northern artists and how these artists made use of their Roman drawings. In other words, we will consider the origins of sixteenth century Netherlandish artists’ Roman vedute as well as investigate the function of the drawings against the background of common artistic procedures and studio practices. The time span of our research will be confined to the sixteenth century. Following pioneering artists such as Jan Gossaert (1478-1532) and Jan van Scorel (1495-1562), Netherlandish artists in this period frequently travelled to Rome. In the second half of the century, a sojourn in the Eternal City became even more common. The phenomenon of northern artists who drew ‘from nature’ in Rome however outstretches the limits of this period. In the first half of the seventeenth century drawing in the open air was still practiced by northern artists staying in Rome. 4 State of research Mainly since Hermann Egger’s extensive study Römische veduten: Handzeichnungen aus dem XV- XVIII Jahrhundert ,5 in which the author has brought to the attention a vast amount of topographical drawings made by artists originating from various regions, the scholarly interest for the representation of Rome in drawings has been aroused. It lasted until the sixties of the Roma Veduta: Rome gezien door Nederlandse meesters uit de 16de en 17de eeuw. Tekeningen en aquarellen uit de collectie van de Farnesina te Rome (see ‘s-Hertogenbosch 1993), Roma Veduta: disegni e stampe panoramiche della città dal XV al XIX secolo (see Roma 2000-2001)). An exhibition held at the Department of Art of Brown University in the late 1970s further has drawn the attention to ‘The origins of the Italian Veduta’ (see Providence 1978). The historical use of the term has not yet been studied thoroughly. Matthias Winner has touched upon the use of the term in Italy since the early renaissance in his paper given in 1984 at a symposium about Netherlandish mannerism in Stockholm (see Winner 1985). 4 Peter Schatborn has pointed to the fact that Karel Dujardin (1626-1678) and Adam Pynacker (1620/21-1673), Netherlandish artists who stayed in Italy around the middle of the seventeenth century, no longer drew ruins and monuments from life (see Schatborn 2001, p. 14). Further research is certainly required to figure out until when the practice of drawing vedute ‘from life’ in Rome remained a significant phenomenon. 5 Egger 1911-1931. 3 twentieth century however until increasingly more publications were devoted to the artistic importance of northern artists Roman journey. 6 Around the same time, the study of sixteenth and seventeenth century Netherlandish artists’ Roman drawings received considerably more attention. 7 The literature of the past forty years on the subject is enormous and scholarly attention has certainly not decreased in recent years. 8 For a long time the traditional approach to the study of drawings was concentrated mainly on attribution and style. Since the sixties of the twentieth century, also other approaches have been advanced. Rather new, for instance, was the study of the role of drawings and their function within the process of artistic creation. 9 The use Netherlandish artists made of their Roman vedute however has been mainly discussed in monographic studies and catalogue entries on specific drawings. Furthermore, the working methods concerned with drawing from different generations of Netherlandish artists who worked in Rome, have not been examined on a larger scale in the light of common artistic procedures and workshop practices. The present study concentrates on the origins and function of sixteenth century northern artists’ Roman drawings. Unlike the Roman drawings of seventeenth century northern Netherlandish artists, 10 the vedute this group of artists made in Rome have never been investigated in their entirety. The main point of our survey will be concentrated on the analysis of the practice of drawing ‘from nature’ in the first half of the sixteenth century. In this period the number of artists we know of to have visited Rome is relatively confined and it is still possible to gain a comprehensive view on the drawings preserved. As we have mentioned before, increasingly more northern artists travelled to the Italian peninsula in the second half of the century. The amount of extant drawings is also considerably larger. Since the drawings have never been examined as a whole, it is less obvious to acquire an overview. Yet, quite recently the initial impetus was given to classify the Roman drawings of artists from the so-called ‘Bril circle’. 11 8 See for instance: Vienna 1964-1965, Utrecht 1965 (see also Blankert 1978), Berlin 1967.