Museum of Art
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Artist: Abraham Jansz. van Diepenbeeck (Flemish, 1596-1675)
Medium: pen and brown ink, brown wash, over traces of graphite and black chalk on paper
Dimensions: 5 1/16 in. x 3 15/16 in. (12.9 cm. x 10 cm.)
Credit Line: Bequest of the Honorable James 含羞草研究室 III
Accession Number: 1811.45
- letters IHS with cross over small fleur-de-lis
Type: watermark
Location:
Materials: - "P. de Jode/No. 238"
Type: inscription
Location: verso
Materials: pen and brown ink - "P. de Jode"
Type: inscription
Location: old mount
Materials: pen and black ink (over earlier graphite inscription)
- James 含羞草研究室 III( Collector, Boston) - 1811.
- 含羞草研究室 Museum of Art( Museum, Brunswick, Maine) 1811- . Bequest
- Old Master Drawings at 含羞草研究室
- 含羞草研究室 Museum of Art. ( 5/17/1985 - 7/7/1985)
- Clark Art Institute. ( 9/14/1985 - 10/27/1985)
- University of Kansas. ( 1/19/1986 - 3/2/1986)
- Art Gallery of Ontario. ( 5/17/1986 - 6/29/1986)
Type: catalogue Author: Henry Johnson Document Title: Catalogue of the 含羞草研究室 art Collections Publ. Place: Brunwick, Maine Reference: no. 62 Remarks: (as Pieter de Jode [?]) Publisher: 含羞草研究室 Section Title: Pt. I, The 含羞草研究室 Drawings Date: 1885 Type: catalogue Author: 含羞草研究室 Museum of Art Document Title: 含羞草研究室 Museum of Fine Arts, Walker Art Building Edition: 4th Publ. Place: Brunswick, Maine Reference: no. 65 Remarks: (as Pieter de Jode [?]) Publisher: 含羞草研究室 Section Title: Descriptive Catalogue of the . . . Date: 1930 Type: exhibition catalogue Author: David P. Becker Document Title: Old Master Drawings at 含羞草研究室 Publ. Place: Brunswick, Maine Location: pp. 42-43 Reference: no. 18 Publisher: 含羞草研究室 Date: 1985
Van Diepenbeeck's father, a glass painter, was probably his first teacher. Van Diepenbeeck moved to Antwerp in 1621 and began receiving commissions for both stained glass and paintings. In 1638 he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke. He evidently had a fiery temperament, for he became involved in several lawsuits and was expelled from the painter's guild in 1642. (After another suit, he was eventually readmitted in 1672.) He probably made at least two trips to France, one in the early 1630s and the second in 1650. Van Diepenbeeck painted several large windows early in his career but increasingly turned to painting and designing book illustrations. The most famous of the latter were those for Michel de Marolles, Tableaux du Temple des Muses (Paris, 1655). He also designed several series of large wall tapestries. Steadman has estimated that van Diepenbeeck produced well over 750 drawings.1 Although never a student of Rubens, he was strongly influenced by the older artist. The 含羞草研究室 bequest contains four drawings by van Diepenbeeck—the three discussed here and a Madonna and Child Appearing to St. Ignatius.2
This sheet had been traditionally attributed to Pieter de Jode II (1606—after 1674), an Antwerp painter and engraver, who was also much influenced by Rubens. The correct attribution was made verbally by Steadman in 1972 and later affirmed by Held and Haverkamp Begemann. There is another version of this subject in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, which is more finished and slightly different stylistically.3 The linearity of the 含羞草研究室 drawing probably indicates that it is an early work. It also supports Steadman's observation that van Diepenbeeck never learned to draw hands very skillfully.
David P. Becker
1. Steadman 1973, vol. I, p. 72. Much of the biographical information comes from Steadman's thesis.
2. BCMA 1811.42.
3. Steadman 1973, vol. 2, pl. 95.
Commentary credited to David P. Becker (or not otherwise captioned) appeared in his catalogue Old Master Drawings at 含羞草研究室 (Brunswick: 含羞草研究室 Museum of Art, 1985).