David Pierre Giottino Humbert de Superville
Encyclopedia
David Pierre Giottino Humbert de Superville (The Hague
, July 18, 1770 - Leiden, January 9, 1849) was a Dutch artist and art scholar. He was a draughtsman, lithographer, etcher, and portrait painter, and also wrote treatises on art, including the influential work Essai sur les signes inconditionnels dans l'art (Leiden, 1827). His 1815 painting of the jurist and statesman Johan Melchior Kemper is now part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
.
D.P.G. Humbert de Superville was a son of Jean Humbert
, a Dutch painter of Swiss and French extraction. His brother, military engineer Jean Emile Humbert
, is credited with rediscovering the lost city of Carthage
. Humbert de Superville's assumed name of Giottino was originally a nickname he was given in Italy because his work showed similarities with the Italian master Giotto
. He also took the last name de Superville after his grandmother Emilie de Superville, daughter of the eminent French Calvinist
theologian Daniel de Superville
, who had fled to the Dutch republic in 1685.
He left the Netherlands for Rome
from 1789 and lived there until 1800, when the Papal State was restored and Humbert de Superville was forced to leave the city because he had supported the 1798 occupation of Rome by French revolutionary troops. In 1812 he settled in the Dutch town of Leiden and became a lecturer at the University of Leiden. He served as head of the Leiden drawing academy Ars Aemula Naturae (1814-1823) and as first director of the Leiden cabinet of prints, drawings and plaster statues (1825-1849).
Humbert de Superville married Elisabeth Paradijs in 1788. They had two sons, one of whom died at a very young age; the other son died of typhoid at the age of 24.
A portrait of Humbert de Superville uit 1848, painted by Jacobus Ludovicus Cornet
, is now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The biography David Pierre Giottin Humbert de Superville, 1770-1849 by Cornelia Magdalena de Haas was published by A.W. Sijthoff in Leiden in 1941. In 1988, an exhibition of Humbert de Superville's work was held at the Musée Fabre
in Montpellier
(France) and at the Institut Néerlandais in Paris
.
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, July 18, 1770 - Leiden, January 9, 1849) was a Dutch artist and art scholar. He was a draughtsman, lithographer, etcher, and portrait painter, and also wrote treatises on art, including the influential work Essai sur les signes inconditionnels dans l'art (Leiden, 1827). His 1815 painting of the jurist and statesman Johan Melchior Kemper is now part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
D.P.G. Humbert de Superville was a son of Jean Humbert
Jean Humbert (painter)
Jean Humbert de Superville was a Dutch painter of Swiss and French extraction. Humbert was primarily known as a portrait painter....
, a Dutch painter of Swiss and French extraction. His brother, military engineer Jean Emile Humbert
Jean Emile Humbert
Jean Emile Humbert was a Dutch lieutenant-colonel who can be credited with rediscovering ancient Carthage. As an agent for the Dutch government he procured vital parts of the collection of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden...
, is credited with rediscovering the lost city of Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
. Humbert de Superville's assumed name of Giottino was originally a nickname he was given in Italy because his work showed similarities with the Italian master Giotto
Giotto di Bondone
Giotto di Bondone , better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages...
. He also took the last name de Superville after his grandmother Emilie de Superville, daughter of the eminent French Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
theologian Daniel de Superville
Daniel de Superville (1657-1728)
Daniel de Superville , also known as Daniel de Superville père , was a Huguenot pastor and theologian who fled France for the Dutch Republic in 1685 and became the minister of the Walloon church in Rotterdam...
, who had fled to the Dutch republic in 1685.
He left the Netherlands for 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...
from 1789 and lived there until 1800, when the Papal State was restored and Humbert de Superville was forced to leave the city because he had supported the 1798 occupation of Rome by French revolutionary troops. In 1812 he settled in the Dutch town of Leiden and became a lecturer at the University of Leiden. He served as head of the Leiden drawing academy Ars Aemula Naturae (1814-1823) and as first director of the Leiden cabinet of prints, drawings and plaster statues (1825-1849).
Humbert de Superville married Elisabeth Paradijs in 1788. They had two sons, one of whom died at a very young age; the other son died of typhoid at the age of 24.
A portrait of Humbert de Superville uit 1848, painted by Jacobus Ludovicus Cornet
Jacobus Ludovicus Cornet
Jacobus Ludovicus Cornet , also known by his initials as J.L. Cornet, was a Dutch painter and draughtsman. He often depicted Dutch historic scenes and figures , contributing several paintings to Jacob de Vos Jacobszoon's gallery of oil paintings depicting scenes from Dutch history...
, is now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The biography David Pierre Giottin Humbert de Superville, 1770-1849 by Cornelia Magdalena de Haas was published by A.W. Sijthoff in Leiden in 1941. In 1988, an exhibition of Humbert de Superville's work was held at the Musée Fabre
Musée Fabre
The Musée Fabre is a museum in the southern French city of Montpellier, capital of the Hérault département.The museum was founded by François-Xavier Fabre, a Montpellier painter, in 1825. Beginning in 2003, the museum underwent a 61.2 million euro renovation, which was completed in January 2007...
in Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
(France) and at the Institut Néerlandais in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Sources
- Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek (Dutch)
- Musée Fabre (French)
- Thorbecke-archief, Vol. 2 (1820-1825), Historisch Genootschap (Utrecht) (Dutch)