DOI issue:
Nr. 2-3
DOI article:Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta: A drawing by Adriaen de Vries in Gdańsk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48709#0213
THOMAS DaCOSTA KAUFMANN
A DRAWING BY ADRIAEN DE VRIES IN GDAŃSK
In honour of Adam Milobędzki on his sixtieth birthday
The attribution of a drawing in Gdańsk to Adriaen de
Vrios to be proposed in this essay not only increases his
corpus of graphic works, but adds substantially in other
respects to our knowledge of the sculptor's work as a drafts-
man. Born in the Hague, De Vries was trained as a sculptor
ni Italy, but was active in Augsburg and elsewhere in Germany.
In Prague he served as sculptor to the court of the Holy
Roman Emperor Rudolf II Habsburg (ruled 1576—1612) as
well as to Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland.
De Vries also provided works for patrons in Silesia, that are
now found in Poland. His bronze relief of the Martyrdom
of St. Vincent and his Standing Christ from the epitapli
°f Adam Hannewald from the church in Żórawina have both
l°ng been familiar to scholarship1. To these fine examples
of the oeuvre of De Vries can be added a work in a Polish
collection that represents another side of his artistic produc-
Don: a drawing in the National Museum Gdańsk2. This
ariele will deal with tlie way in which the reattribution and
dating of the Gdańsk drawing illuminate several important
aspects of the chronology and function of the sculptor's
littlo known, but growing, corpus of works in this medium.
1 The standard monograph on Adriaen de Vries remains L. O. LARS-
Adrian de Vries. Adrianus Eries Hagiensis Batavus 1545—1626,
Sienna and Munich 1967. L. (). LARSSON (Bildhauerkunst und Plastik
a»i Hofe Kaiser Rudolfs II, „Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek" 1, 1982,
Pp. 211—235) offers an overview of the subject of sculpture at the imperial
court of Rudolf II, with references to the more important literature on
be Vries and related subjects since 1967. This latter essay does not however
mention the extensive treatment of the Warsaw bronze of Christ by W.
koś, Christ at the Column by Adrian de Vries from the Hannewald Memoriał
at Żórawina, „Bulletin du Musće National de Varsovie" XXII, 1981, pp.
^ 37. Larsson's own discussion of De Vries's work for Silesia is found in
Adrian de Vries..., o.c., pp. 46—47, 57—58, 118, cat. nr 8, 123, cat. nr 37;
the works are illustrated as figures 89 and 117. De Vries's works in Poland
and in particular his relief in Wrocław, have more recently been discussed
ni Z. WAŻBIŃSKT, Adriano de Vries e la sua scuola di scultura in Praga.
The Gdańsk drawing (fig. 1) depicts a striding male nude,
seen from the left, whose heacl is turned bacie to the left, left
arm upraised, and who holds a wedge-like object in his left
hand. It was perhaps the nude male subject, or some other
generał aspects of the graphic style of the sheet, tliat led to
an earlier ascription of the Gdańsk drawing to Bartholomaus
Spranger (1546—1611), a painter of Netherlandish origins
who after a sojourn in Italy served the Emperors Maximilian
II and Rudolf II, the latter alongside De Vries. In the cata-
logue of an exhibition of drawings of „Netherlandisli Man-
nerists" from collections in Warsaw, Gdańsk, and Poznań
that was held in 1967 Stanisława Sawicka correetly cast
doubt on this ascription, saying that the Gdańsk drawing
could not be attributed to Spranger with complete certainty.
Sawicka published the sheet as by a Netherlandish artist
from the circle of Spranger3, and so indeed it is: by an artist
who not only collaborated with Spranger in Prague, but also
had earlier belonged to the circle of artists around Giam-
bologna in Italy with which Spranger was also once associated.
Several compelling reasons lead to the more precise
attribution to De Vries. While possessing certain generał
Contributo alla diffusione deWaccademismo fiorentino in Europa alla fine
del XVIe inizio XVII secolo, „Artibus et Historiae" 1983, nr 7, pp. 41—
67.
2 National Museum in Gdańsk, Inv Nr MNG/SD/848/R; pen and
brown ink, brown wash, white heightening, over black chalk, 294 x 174 mm.
The drawing is irregular in dimensions and measures 195 mm at its upper
margin, and 174 mm at its lower margin. I am grateful for the aid given
me by the museum staff in the study of this drawing.
3 S. SAWICKA's, (Rysunki z kręgu manierystów niderlandzkich XVI
i początku XVII wieku, exhibition catalogue, Warsaw 1967, pp. 42—43,
cat. nr 26, fig. 13) reference to a drawing from the Ossolineum (formerly
Lwów, now Wrocław) reproduced in A. NIEDERSTEIN (Bas Graphische
Werk des Bartholomdus Spranger, „Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft"
LII, 1931, fig. 5, p. 14) does not however lead on to the right track.
203
A DRAWING BY ADRIAEN DE VRIES IN GDAŃSK
In honour of Adam Milobędzki on his sixtieth birthday
The attribution of a drawing in Gdańsk to Adriaen de
Vrios to be proposed in this essay not only increases his
corpus of graphic works, but adds substantially in other
respects to our knowledge of the sculptor's work as a drafts-
man. Born in the Hague, De Vries was trained as a sculptor
ni Italy, but was active in Augsburg and elsewhere in Germany.
In Prague he served as sculptor to the court of the Holy
Roman Emperor Rudolf II Habsburg (ruled 1576—1612) as
well as to Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland.
De Vries also provided works for patrons in Silesia, that are
now found in Poland. His bronze relief of the Martyrdom
of St. Vincent and his Standing Christ from the epitapli
°f Adam Hannewald from the church in Żórawina have both
l°ng been familiar to scholarship1. To these fine examples
of the oeuvre of De Vries can be added a work in a Polish
collection that represents another side of his artistic produc-
Don: a drawing in the National Museum Gdańsk2. This
ariele will deal with tlie way in which the reattribution and
dating of the Gdańsk drawing illuminate several important
aspects of the chronology and function of the sculptor's
littlo known, but growing, corpus of works in this medium.
1 The standard monograph on Adriaen de Vries remains L. O. LARS-
Adrian de Vries. Adrianus Eries Hagiensis Batavus 1545—1626,
Sienna and Munich 1967. L. (). LARSSON (Bildhauerkunst und Plastik
a»i Hofe Kaiser Rudolfs II, „Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek" 1, 1982,
Pp. 211—235) offers an overview of the subject of sculpture at the imperial
court of Rudolf II, with references to the more important literature on
be Vries and related subjects since 1967. This latter essay does not however
mention the extensive treatment of the Warsaw bronze of Christ by W.
koś, Christ at the Column by Adrian de Vries from the Hannewald Memoriał
at Żórawina, „Bulletin du Musće National de Varsovie" XXII, 1981, pp.
^ 37. Larsson's own discussion of De Vries's work for Silesia is found in
Adrian de Vries..., o.c., pp. 46—47, 57—58, 118, cat. nr 8, 123, cat. nr 37;
the works are illustrated as figures 89 and 117. De Vries's works in Poland
and in particular his relief in Wrocław, have more recently been discussed
ni Z. WAŻBIŃSKT, Adriano de Vries e la sua scuola di scultura in Praga.
The Gdańsk drawing (fig. 1) depicts a striding male nude,
seen from the left, whose heacl is turned bacie to the left, left
arm upraised, and who holds a wedge-like object in his left
hand. It was perhaps the nude male subject, or some other
generał aspects of the graphic style of the sheet, tliat led to
an earlier ascription of the Gdańsk drawing to Bartholomaus
Spranger (1546—1611), a painter of Netherlandish origins
who after a sojourn in Italy served the Emperors Maximilian
II and Rudolf II, the latter alongside De Vries. In the cata-
logue of an exhibition of drawings of „Netherlandisli Man-
nerists" from collections in Warsaw, Gdańsk, and Poznań
that was held in 1967 Stanisława Sawicka correetly cast
doubt on this ascription, saying that the Gdańsk drawing
could not be attributed to Spranger with complete certainty.
Sawicka published the sheet as by a Netherlandish artist
from the circle of Spranger3, and so indeed it is: by an artist
who not only collaborated with Spranger in Prague, but also
had earlier belonged to the circle of artists around Giam-
bologna in Italy with which Spranger was also once associated.
Several compelling reasons lead to the more precise
attribution to De Vries. While possessing certain generał
Contributo alla diffusione deWaccademismo fiorentino in Europa alla fine
del XVIe inizio XVII secolo, „Artibus et Historiae" 1983, nr 7, pp. 41—
67.
2 National Museum in Gdańsk, Inv Nr MNG/SD/848/R; pen and
brown ink, brown wash, white heightening, over black chalk, 294 x 174 mm.
The drawing is irregular in dimensions and measures 195 mm at its upper
margin, and 174 mm at its lower margin. I am grateful for the aid given
me by the museum staff in the study of this drawing.
3 S. SAWICKA's, (Rysunki z kręgu manierystów niderlandzkich XVI
i początku XVII wieku, exhibition catalogue, Warsaw 1967, pp. 42—43,
cat. nr 26, fig. 13) reference to a drawing from the Ossolineum (formerly
Lwów, now Wrocław) reproduced in A. NIEDERSTEIN (Bas Graphische
Werk des Bartholomdus Spranger, „Repertorium fur Kunstwissenschaft"
LII, 1931, fig. 5, p. 14) does not however lead on to the right track.
203