DALMI Working Paper No. 15231 DALMI WORKING PAPERS ON ART & MARKETS The Artistic Migration Between Mechelen and Delft (1550–1625) Fiene Leunissen Working Paper no. 15231 https://www.dukedalmi.org/wp-content/uploads/15231-Working-Paper.pdf DUKE ART, LAW & MARKETS INITIATIVE 114 S. Buchanan Blvd. Campus Box 90766 Durham, NC 27708 May 2015 DALMI working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed. © 2015 by Fiene Leunissen. All rights reserved. Leunissen May 2015 DALMI Working Paper No. 15231 The Artistic Migration Between Mechelen and Delft (1550–1625) Fiene Leunissen DALMI Working Paper No. 15231 May 2015 ABSTRACT Mechelen (Malines) is a small city in present-day Belgium, positioned between Antwerp and Brussels, along the river the Dijle. While most people today have never heard anything about this city or its history, this small town was once one of the most important cities in the Low Countries. It was also hub for the production of watercolor paintings. During the religious turmoil in the second half of the 16th century a large portion of artists fled the city to find a better life in other European cities. One of these places was Delft, were a group of 24 Mechelen artists settled. In this paper we look at the lives of these artists to better understand the knowledge circulation between the north and the south at the turn of the 17th century. Keywords: Art Markets, Mechelen, Delft, Seventeenth Century JEL: Z11 Leunissen May 2015 DALMI Working Paper No. 15231 Leunissen May 2015 DALMI Working Paper No. 15231 Table of Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Migration from south to north ............................................................................................................. 5 Sources ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Outline .......................................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1. Mechelen: a small, but creative city .................................................................... 9 History of the city ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Mechelen: the court city of the Low Countries ........................................................................................... 9 Turmoil in the city ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Mechelen: an creative city .................................................................................................................. 14 The painting industry in Mechelen ............................................................................................................... 14 The production of tapestry in Mechelen .................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2. - The migration from Mechelen to Delft .......................................................... 18 Motivation for migration .................................................................................................................... 18 The migration from Mechelen artists ............................................................................................. 20 Historiography ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 DALMI database .................................................................................................................................................... 21 Who came to Delft? ............................................................................................................................... 24 Openness of Delft ................................................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 3. - The painting industry in Delft .......................................................................... 28 Delft in the 16th century ...................................................................................................................... 28 The St. Lucas Guild in Delft and its regulations ........................................................................... 30 A ‘small’ Mechelen in Delft ................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter 4. - The Mechelen painters in Delft ........................................................................ 35 Who are these painters from Mechelen? ....................................................................................... 35 Measuring the impact from the Mechelen artists ....................................................................... 38 Where did they settle down? ........................................................................................................................... 42 Elias Verhulst .......................................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 5. - The tapestry production of the Northern Netherlands with a focus on Delft .................................................................................................................................................. 48 Tapestry historiography ..................................................................................................................... 48 The techniques of making a tapestry ............................................................................................. 49 The production of the cartoons ...................................................................................................................... 50 Southern versus Northern characteristics ................................................................................................ 51 Joost Jansz. Lanckaert ......................................................................................................................................... 58 Francois Spiering .................................................................................................................................................. 59 Karel van Mander the Younger & Aert Spierings .................................................................................... 61 Maximiliaan van der Gucht ............................................................................................................................... 62 Tapestry and the St. Lucas Guild .................................................................................................................... 62 The Mechelen painters in the Delft tapestry industry .............................................................. 63 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 65 Why Delft? ................................................................................................................................................ 66 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 68 1 Leunissen May 2015 DALMI Working Paper No. 15231 List of figures ................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 4 .................................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................................................. 73 Appendix I - Biographical information with references ................................................. 75 Arentsz, Adriaen .................................................................................................................................... 75 Burcht, Jan Jansz. van der ................................................................................................................... 75 Burcht, Jan van der ............................................................................................................................... 75 Burcht, Janneken van der ................................................................................................................... 75 Burcht, Jonas van der ..........................................................................................................................