Carel van Mander
Encyclopedia
Karel van Mander was a Flemish
-born Dutch painter
and poet
, who is mainly remembered as a biographer of Netherlandish artists in his Schilder-boeck
. As an artist he played an important role in Northern Mannerism
in the Netherlands.
in modern West Flanders. He studied under Lucas de Heere
at Ghent
, and in 1568-1569 under Pieter Vlerick at Kortrijk
. The next five years he devoted to the writing of religious plays for which he also painted the scenery. Then followed three years in Rome
(1574–1577), where he is said to have been the first to discover the catacombs. On his return journey he passed through Vienna
, where, together with the sculptor Hans Mont, he made the triumphal arch for the royal entry
of the emperor Rudolph
.
In 1583 he settled in Haarlem
where he lived and worked for 20 years on a commission by the city fathers to inventory "their" art collection; work that he later published in his "Schilder-boeck". While in Haarlem he continued to paint, concentrating his energy on his favorite genre: historical allegories. In 1603 he retired to the castle of Sevenbergen in Heemskerk
to proofread his book that was published in 1604. He died soon after it was published in Amsterdam at the age of 58.
He had an important effect on Dutch art when in 1585 he showed his friend Hendrick Goltzius drawings he had by Bartholomeus Spranger
, then the leading artist of Northern Mannerism
, who was based in Prague
as Rudolf's court artist. These had a galvanising effect on Goltzius whose style was immediately affected by them, and also made engravings of them which were important in disseminating Mannerist style. Van Mander, Goltzius and Cornelis van Haarlem
, became known as the "Haarlem Mannerists" and artists from other towns joined the movement.
He received budding artists in his home for evenings of communal drawing and study of classical mythology. After the iconoclasm, religious themes had gone out of fashion and mythology gained popularity, but few painters could afford a trip to Italy as van Mander had done. His purpose was to educate young painters in the proper artistic techniques; he was a firm believer in the hierarchy of genres
. It was his firm belief that only through proper study of existing works that true-to-life historical allegories could be achieved.
His own works included mannerist mythological subjects, but also portraits and genre painting
s influenced by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and looking forward to the next century, such as the Kermis in the Hermitage Museum
. Relatively few paintings by him survive.
's famous biographical accounts of painters in his book Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
, often referred to as the "Vite". It was published in 1550 and republished in 1568 with woodcuts, which is the version Van Mander probably studied. He set about translating this great work into Dutch and it was during this project that he was offered the commission to inventory Haarlem's art collection, a job that resulted in the Netherlandish chapters of his book. In both books, the lives of the painters are told in the standard "Vita di ..." manner of Catholic saints, extolling the virtues of the painters one by one in several chapters. In van Mander's book, many chapters on Greek and Italian painters were simply translated into Dutch from the Italian "Vite", but the original biographical details on Haarlem painters is unique and was the result of van Mander's commission.
At the time van Mander was writing, Haarlem was recovering from its period under Spanish occupation, and though officially all Catholic property had been seized by the state since 1572, the city fathers had agreed to let nuns and monks 'die out' in their convents and monasteries, rather than seizing all of their possessions immediately and putting them out on the street. Indeed, putting the monks and nuns out of business had resulted in many more poor on the streets already, and when the new poorhouse "Oudemannenhuis
", or "Old men's home" opened its doors in 1609, most of its occupants were Catholics. After van Mander's book was published, the Haarlem council hired Frans Hals
to restore the more important paintings from the inventory and in 1628 the collection was moved to the city hall. All of the art that was considered too "Roman Catholic" was sold to Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen
on condition that he "remove them outside the city walls".
Karel van Mander's book also contains a translation of Ovid
's stories from Metamorphoses, meant for the artist who needed themes to paint that were based on mythology
rather than religion
. Symbolism was very important in painting at the time, and the use of Ovid's characters, combined with proper use of artist symbolism allowed the artist to tell a specific story. The last chapters of his book describe the meaning of animals and other figures.
, and it was through him that Hals received his art restoration
commission from the Haarlem
city council. However, Hals certainly disregarded van Mander's conventional belief that history painting
was the highest of the hierarchy of genres
. His book brought a glimpse of Italy to the North-Netherlandish artists, and influenced them to travel, if not follow the book's instructions on Italian painting methods. The school that van Mander founded based on this work, continued in Haarlem after him for centuries. Aside from his son Karel van Mander the Younger
and Frans Hals, his registered pupils were Cornelis Engelsz
, Everard Crynsz van der Maes, Jacobus Martens (landscape painter and father of the painter Jan Martszen de Jonge
), Jacob Martsen (genre painter), Jacob van Musscher
, Hendrik Gerritsz Pot
, and François Venant.
Van Mander was famously influential on the art writing of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Amongst others, Cornelis de Bie
(Gulden Cabinet, 1662), Joachim von Sandrart
(Teutsche Akademie, 1675), Filippo Baldinucci
(Notizie de' Professori, 1681), and Arnold Houbraken
(Schouburg, 1720) used material from his Schilderboeck for their biographical sketches of Netherlandish painters. His book is still the most-cited primary source in biographical accounts of the lives of many artists from his lists, but of most interest to historians is his criticism of their work, especially when he describes the location and owner of the paintings, thus becoming a valuable source for art provenance
. The Schilder-boeck is part of the Basic Library of the dbnl (Canon of Dutch Literature
) which contains the 1000 most important works in Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to today.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
-born Dutch painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, who is mainly remembered as a biographer of Netherlandish artists in his Schilder-boeck
Schilder-boeck
The Schilder-Boeck is a book by the art historian Karel van Mander written in 1604. It was actually compiled from three books in total; the first was a translation from Giorgio Vasari's list of artist biographies called the Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, the...
. As an artist he played an important role in Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism is the term in European art history for the versions of Mannerism practiced in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th century...
in the Netherlands.
Biography
He was born of a noble family at MeulebekeMeulebeke
Meulebeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises only the town of Meulebeke proper. On January 1, 2006 Meulebeke had a total population of 10,980...
in modern West Flanders. He studied under Lucas de Heere
Lucas de Heere
Lucas de Heere was a Flemish portrait painter, poet and writer.De Heere was a Protestant and became a refugee from the Dutch Revolt against Philip II of Spain, who tried to suppress Protestantism...
at Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, and in 1568-1569 under Pieter Vlerick at Kortrijk
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...
. The next five years he devoted to the writing of religious plays for which he also painted the scenery. Then followed three years in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(1574–1577), where he is said to have been the first to discover the catacombs. On his return journey he passed through Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where, together with the sculptor Hans Mont, he made the triumphal arch for the royal entry
Royal Entry
The Royal Entry, also known by various other names, including Triumphal Entry and Joyous Entry, embraced the ceremonial and festivities accompanying a formal entry by a ruler or his representative into a city in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period in Europe...
of the emperor Rudolph
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
.
In 1583 he settled in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
where he lived and worked for 20 years on a commission by the city fathers to inventory "their" art collection; work that he later published in his "Schilder-boeck". While in Haarlem he continued to paint, concentrating his energy on his favorite genre: historical allegories. In 1603 he retired to the castle of Sevenbergen in Heemskerk
Heemskerk
Heemskerk is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.-Local government:The municipal council of Heemskerk consists of 25 seats, which are divided as follows:* PvdA - 5 seats* CDA - 5 seats* VVD - 5 seats...
to proofread his book that was published in 1604. He died soon after it was published in Amsterdam at the age of 58.
Haarlem Mannerists
Karel van Mander is considered the founder of the Haarlem drawing academy, although it is very unclear what this involved at this period - it was certainly not a regular school offering classes, probably an informal discussion group which may have sat for life-drawing together. He was considered an established expert when he arrived in Haarlem.He had an important effect on Dutch art when in 1585 he showed his friend Hendrick Goltzius drawings he had by Bartholomeus Spranger
Bartholomeus Spranger
Bartholomeus Spranger was a Flemish Northern Mannerist painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He was born in Antwerp in the Habsburg Netherlands .-Biography:...
, then the leading artist of Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism is the term in European art history for the versions of Mannerism practiced in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th century...
, who was based in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
as Rudolf's court artist. These had a galvanising effect on Goltzius whose style was immediately affected by them, and also made engravings of them which were important in disseminating Mannerist style. Van Mander, Goltzius and Cornelis van Haarlem
Cornelis van Haarlem
Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem , Dutch Golden Age painter and draughtsman, was one of the leading Northern Mannerist artists in The Netherlands, and an important forerunner of Frans Hals as a portraitist.-Biography:...
, became known as the "Haarlem Mannerists" and artists from other towns joined the movement.
Hierarchy of genres
A hierarchy of genres is any formalization which ranks different genres in an art form in terms of their prestige and cultural value....
. It was his firm belief that only through proper study of existing works that true-to-life historical allegories could be achieved.
His own works included mannerist mythological subjects, but also portraits and genre painting
Genre painting
Genre works, also called genre scenes or genre views, are pictorial representations in any of various media that represent scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, and street scenes. Such representations may be realistic, imagined, or...
s influenced by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and looking forward to the next century, such as the Kermis in the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
. Relatively few paintings by him survive.
Schilder-boeck
Karel van Mander's "Schilder-boeck" (Painter book), written in 17th century Dutch and published in Haarlem in 1604 by Passchier van Wesbusch, describes the life and work of more than 250 painters, both historical and contemporary, as well as contemporary art theory for aspiring painters. During his travels and stay in Italy, van Mander had read and was influenced by Giorgio VasariGiorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
's famous biographical accounts of painters in his book Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, from Cimabue to Our Times, or Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori da Cimabue insino a' tempi nostri, as it was originally known in Italian, is a series of artist biographies written by 16th century...
, often referred to as the "Vite". It was published in 1550 and republished in 1568 with woodcuts, which is the version Van Mander probably studied. He set about translating this great work into Dutch and it was during this project that he was offered the commission to inventory Haarlem's art collection, a job that resulted in the Netherlandish chapters of his book. In both books, the lives of the painters are told in the standard "Vita di ..." manner of Catholic saints, extolling the virtues of the painters one by one in several chapters. In van Mander's book, many chapters on Greek and Italian painters were simply translated into Dutch from the Italian "Vite", but the original biographical details on Haarlem painters is unique and was the result of van Mander's commission.
At the time van Mander was writing, Haarlem was recovering from its period under Spanish occupation, and though officially all Catholic property had been seized by the state since 1572, the city fathers had agreed to let nuns and monks 'die out' in their convents and monasteries, rather than seizing all of their possessions immediately and putting them out on the street. Indeed, putting the monks and nuns out of business had resulted in many more poor on the streets already, and when the new poorhouse "Oudemannenhuis
Frans Hals Museum
The Frans Hals Museum is a hofje and municipal museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 1862 in the newly renovated former cloister located in the back of the Haarlem city hall known as the Prinsenhof...
", or "Old men's home" opened its doors in 1609, most of its occupants were Catholics. After van Mander's book was published, the Haarlem council hired Frans Hals
Frans Hals
Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
to restore the more important paintings from the inventory and in 1628 the collection was moved to the city hall. All of the art that was considered too "Roman Catholic" was sold to Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen
Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen
Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen was a Dutch Golden Age painter.-Biography:He was the son of a Haarlem captain, and drew, painted and etched with his friends Hendrick Goltzius and Cornelis van Haarlem. He also held important positions in the Haarlem Guild of St...
on condition that he "remove them outside the city walls".
Karel van Mander's book also contains a translation of Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
's stories from Metamorphoses, meant for the artist who needed themes to paint that were based on mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
rather than religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. Symbolism was very important in painting at the time, and the use of Ovid's characters, combined with proper use of artist symbolism allowed the artist to tell a specific story. The last chapters of his book describe the meaning of animals and other figures.
Legacy
He was the master of Frans HalsFrans Hals
Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
, and it was through him that Hals received his art restoration
Art restoration
Art restoration is related to art conservation. Restoration is a process that attempts to return the work of art to some previous state that the restorer imagines was the "original". This was commonly done in the past...
commission from the Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
city council. However, Hals certainly disregarded van Mander's conventional belief that history painting
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
was the highest of the hierarchy of genres
Hierarchy of genres
A hierarchy of genres is any formalization which ranks different genres in an art form in terms of their prestige and cultural value....
. His book brought a glimpse of Italy to the North-Netherlandish artists, and influenced them to travel, if not follow the book's instructions on Italian painting methods. The school that van Mander founded based on this work, continued in Haarlem after him for centuries. Aside from his son Karel van Mander the Younger
Karel van Mander the Younger
Karel van Mander the Younger , was a Dutch Golden Age painter and the son of Karel van Mander.-Biography:According to Houbraken he learned to paint from his father and became a good portrait painter. He moved to Copenhagen where he was court painter to the King...
and Frans Hals, his registered pupils were Cornelis Engelsz
Cornelis Engelsz
Cornelis Engelsz , was a Dutch Golden Age painter and the father of Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck.-Biography:According to Houbraken he was a pupil of Karel van Mander and a colleague of Frans Hals in Haarlem....
, Everard Crynsz van der Maes, Jacobus Martens (landscape painter and father of the painter Jan Martszen de Jonge
Jan Martszen de Jonge
Jan Martszen de Jonge , was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter.-Biography:According to the RKD he was the son of the Haarlem painter Jacobus Martens , the nephew and pupil of Esaias van de Velde, and the teacher of Jan Asselijn. He lived in Haarlem, Amsterdam, and Delft, painting portraits and...
), Jacob Martsen (genre painter), Jacob van Musscher
Jacob van Musscher
-Biography:Van Musscher was born in Emden. According to Houbraken he was called Jaques de Moschero and was one of 5 pupils of Karel van Mander; the others were, Korn. Engelsz, Hendr. Gerretz., Fr...
, Hendrik Gerritsz Pot
Hendrik Gerritsz Pot
Hendrik Gerritsz Pot, was a Dutch painter. He lived and painted in Haarlem, where he was an officer of the militia, or schutterij. Dutch artist Frans Hals painted Pot in militia sash in Hals' The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company ...
, and François Venant.
Van Mander was famously influential on the art writing of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Amongst others, Cornelis de Bie
Cornelis de Bie
Cornelis de Bie was a Brabant rederijker, poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier.He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies...
(Gulden Cabinet, 1662), Joachim von Sandrart
Joachim von Sandrart
Joachim von Sandrart was a German Baroque art-historian and painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age.-Biography:Sandrart was born in Frankfurt, but the family originated from Mons...
(Teutsche Akademie, 1675), Filippo Baldinucci
Filippo Baldinucci
Filippo Baldinucci was an Italian art historian and biographer.-Life:Baldinucci is considered among the most significant Florentine biographers/historians of the artists and the arts of the Baroque period...
(Notizie de' Professori, 1681), and Arnold Houbraken
Arnold Houbraken
Arnold Houbraken was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of artists from the Dutch Golden Age. He had ten children. His son Jacobus Houbraken was an engraver of portraits and book illustrations, including books by his father...
(Schouburg, 1720) used material from his Schilderboeck for their biographical sketches of Netherlandish painters. His book is still the most-cited primary source in biographical accounts of the lives of many artists from his lists, but of most interest to historians is his criticism of their work, especially when he describes the location and owner of the paintings, thus becoming a valuable source for art provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
. The Schilder-boeck is part of the Basic Library of the dbnl (Canon of Dutch Literature
Canon of Dutch Literature
The Canon of Dutch Literature comprises a list of 1000 works of Dutch Literature culturally important to Dutch Heritage, and is published on the DBNL. Several of these works are lists themselves; such as early dictionaries, lists of songs, recipes, biographies or encyclopedic compilations of...
) which contains the 1000 most important works in Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to today.
External links
- The Schilderboeck in the Digitale Bibliotheek der Nederlandse Letteren (DBNL, "Digital Library of Dutch Literature")
- Encyclopædia Britannica
- of MANDER CAREL VAN