Wisdom, Knowledge & Magic The Image of the Scholar inScven ‘V olker CM ‘Dianna ‘Beaufort Jonathan Bikker ‘David de ‘Witt Jillian Harrold S a n d ra ‘TJchards Lsdxel Bfger Jan e ‘Bussell-Corbett with contributions by J . Douglas Stewart 25 O ctober 1996 -13 A pril 1997 A gnes E th erington A rt C entre Q u een ’s U niversity K ing sto n , C anada L e n d e r s t o t h e E x h i b i t i o n T h e E x h i b i t i o n w a s m a d e p o s s i b l e b y THE GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston Anonymous Lenders Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Queen’s University, Kingston Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader, Milwaukee Royal Netherlands Embassy, Ottawa Daniel and Linda Bader, Milwaukee Jack Kilgore and Co., Inc., New York Jack Kilgore and Co., Inc., New York Otto Naumann, Ltd, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Ontario Arts Council National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa City of Kingston Pittsburgh Township P h o t o c r e d i t s © Agnes Etherington Art Centre Queen’s University, Kingston Gene Albert, Ken Brown Studio: cat. nos. 8, 37 ISBN 0-88911-738-1 Agnes Etherington Art Centre: cat. nos. 7, 22, 29, 30 Art Gallery of Ontario (Carlo Catenazzi): cat. nos. 2, 3,11, 25, 32 Graphic Design: Peter Dorn, RCA, FGDC Courtesy of Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader: cat. nos. 1, 4, 9 ,12 ,14 , Typesetting: Queen’s University Graphic Design Unit 15,16 ,17 , 23, 27, 31, 35, 38 Printing: Mutual Hadwen Prudence Cuming Association Ltd., London: cat. no. 6 Editor: Christine Hamelin P. Richard Eells: cat. nos. 20, 24 Jack Kilgore & Co.: cat. no. 5 Cover illustration: Detail of Allegory ofVanitas Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: cat. no. 34 by Jacob van Spreeuwen, cat. no. 30 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa: cat. nos. 18,19, 33, 36 Cheryl O ’Brien: cat. nos. 10,13, 21, 26, 28 C ontents A cknowledgements iv Foreword §§ v L earning and its Impact on th e V isual A rts in th e N o rth ern N eth erlan d s t i ‘Volker Manuth, Axel Bager; Jonathan Bikker T h e S c h o l a r s h i p a n d S pirituality o f S a i n t s a n d H e r m i t s i i ID avid de rWitt) Jan e Bussell- Co rbett, Sandra Bichards A lch em y in D utch A rt of th e Sixteen th and Sev en teen th C en tu ries § 19 Va n DE CONSTEN DER ALCHIMIE ‘Volker Manuth, Jillia n Efarrold, DDianna Beaufort C olour P lates 27 C atalogue 31 Bibliography § 92 A rtists represented in the Exhibition Jacob Adriaensz. Backer cat. no. 20 Jan Lutma the Younger cat. no. 10 Cornelis Bisschop cat. no. 13 Isaac Luttichuys cat. no. 1 Abraham Bloemaert cat. no. 24 Pieter Nason cat. no. 6 Pieter Bruegel the Elder (after) cat. nos. 19, 34 Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn cat. nos. 2, 3,11,14 , Johan de Cordua cat. no. 31 25, 36 Heijmen Dullaert cat. no. 12 Constantijn Daniel van Renesse cat. no. 8 Govert Flinck cat. no. 22 David Rijckaert III cat. no. 35 Lucas Franchoys the Younger cat. no. 5 Franciscus van Schooten cat. no. 7 Hendrick Goltzius cat. no. 18 Jacob van Spreeuwen cat. no. 30 Hendrik Heerschop cat. no. 38 Wallerant Vaillant cat. no. 32 Sir Godfrey Kneller cat. nos. 9, 29 Johannes Gillisz. van Vliet cat. no. 26 Gerard de Lairesse (after) cat. no. 33 Thomas Wijck cat. no. 37 Paulus de Lesire cat. no. 17 Anonymous painters cat. nos. 4,15,16, 21, 27, 28 Jan Lievens cat. no. 23 hi A cknowledgements ISDOM, KNOWLEDGE & M AGIC: The Image ofthe Scholar in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art is a sub­ W ject entirely suited to examination in a university setting. As an exhibition organized principally by students, it is unique in its ambitiousness in this country. The exhibition itself allows the Agnes Etherington Art Centre to display important paintings and prints from other public institutions and private collections over an extended period of time, and thereby to enrich significantly the cultural life of the community at large. The catalogue is a sub­ stantial investigation into the arts and sciences at a pivotal time and place - the seventeenth century in the Nether­ lands and Flanders - when intellectual endeavours of various sorts were beginning to shape the outlines of our mo­ dern world. Both exhibition and catalogue involved productive collaborations: staff of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the Department of Art at Queen s on one hand, and faculty and students on the other. We owe a large debt of gratitude to Dr Volker Manuth, Bader Chair of Northern Baroque Art, who con­ ceived the exhibition and has been involved in every aspect of its realization. He selected the works of art included and supervised the graduate students who have taken part. Dr Manuth has asked me to acknowledge in particular the hard work and dedication of the students who, at various stages in their academic careers and from various backgrounds, worked closely together to produce a notably informative catalogue. Among them, Axel Riiger deserves special credit for conscientiously coordinating the project as a whole and for designing an imaginative installation for the exhibition. At the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Dorothy Farr has expertly overseen all aspects of the exhibition, while the rest of the staff have willingly assisted in various capacities. Thanks are also due to Steve Anderson and Christine Hamelin for editing the catalogue, assisted by one of the students Jonathan Bikker. The authors of the catalogue have naturally sought advice and information from many sources, and for their help, wish me to thank the staff of the Art Library in Ontario Hall, Barbara Keyser of the Art Conservation pro­ gram in the Department of Art at Queens University, and Linda Graham, formerly in the departmental general office. Further afield, the authors received valuable assistance from Mimi Cazort and Richard Hemphill at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Katharine Lochnan at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Iva Lisikewycz of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Nadine Orenstein at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Peter Sutton in New York, Arwed Arnulf in Berlin, John H. Schlichte Bergen, Marieke de Winkel and Jaap van der Veen in Amsterdam. From the outset, encouragement has come from the Dutch community in Canada, including Hans Westen- berg, the Vice-Consul of the Netherlands in Kingston, Paul W.A. Schellekens, the Consul General of the Nether­ lands, Toronto, Mieke Bos, Attache for Press and Cultural Affairs of the Royal Dutch Embassy, and His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Canada, Mr J.H.W. Fietelaars, Ottawa, who also gracious­ ly consented to provide the Foreword for this publication. The exhibition would not have been possible without the generous loan of works of art from public and pri­ vate collections in Canada and the United States, especially that of Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader of Milwaukee. No less significant has been the crucial financial support offered by the Offices of the Principal, Vice-Principal (Aca­ demic), and Research Services, the Faculty of Arts and Science, and the School of Graduate Studies at Queens Uni­ versity, Jack Kilgore & Co., Inc. and Otto Naumann Ltd, New York, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Ottawa, and Drs Alfred and Isabel Bader. It is a pleasure to extend heartfelt thanks to all these generous benefactors. D avid M e Tavish Director, Agnes Etherington Art Centre C/3 IV Foreword HE SEVENTEENTH century is known as the Golden Age of the young Republic of the “United Seven T Provinces” of the Netherlands. The Union of Utrecht of 1579 concluded by these northern “rebellious” provinces had laid the foundation of the Republic. The fall of the port of Antwerp to Spanish occupying forces con­ tributed to the rise of Amsterdam and the Republic, which rapidly grew into a seafaring world power. The United East India Company (voc), established in 1602, drove Spanish and Portuguese merchants out of Asian waters and by the end of the seventeenth century owned trading stations from the Middle East to Japan. The seventeenth century is known as the Golden Age because it is a period not only of unprecedented eco­ nomic growth but also of great cultural and intellectual progress in the Netherlands. Changes in the spiritual cli­ mate contributed to these developments. The Republic was characterized by fairly generous freedom of religion and thought and concomitant favouring of the sciences, an environment which attracted foreign scholars who found themselves persecuted for their ideals or religious beliefs in their native lands. To mention just a few: John Locke and René Descartes lived for some time in the Republic, Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius) lies buried in the town of Naarden, and the Amsterdam-born philosopher Baruch Spinoza, of Spanish Jewish origin, also lived and worked in the Netherlands. The Dutch sciences also flourished. World-renowned scholars such as Herman Boerhaave, Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek, and Christaan Huygens made invaluable contributions to scientific development. The sciences were further stimulated by the founding of universities and colleges. The country’s first university was founded in the city of Leiden in 1575, followed a few years later by Franeker (Friesland) and Utrecht.