Benjamin perronnet V5 - Flipbook - Page 14
The drawings of Bouckhorst, who spent his entire career in
Haarlem, are varied in both subject and style, re昀氀ecting
the in昀氀uences of contemporaries such as Hendrik Goltzius
(1558-1617), Jacques de Gheyn II (1565-1629) and Willem
Buytewech (1591/92-1624). The artist often signed and
dated his drawings, the earliest known dating from 1612
and the latest from 1629.
This drawing depicts the Trojan hero Aeneas 昀氀eeing Troy
carrying his father, as recounted by Virgil in The Aeneid.
Below is a pelican feeding its young from its own entrails.
Although the 昀椀nal work for which the present drawing
served as a study is unknown, Gert-Jan van de Sman
recently suggested that it must have been executed for
a member of the «Trou moet Blijcken» rederijkerskamer,
known as the Pellicanists, in Haarlem. This society of
gentlemen interested in poetry and theater was founded
in 1503 and still exists today. As Van der Sman observed,
the composition with Aeneas carrying his father Anchises
and the pelican feeding its chicks can be found on a coat
of arms painted for the brotherhood by Frans Pietersz. de
Grebber (Fig. 1.). In addition, two coats of arms for «Trou
moet Blijcken», drawn by Goltzius and showing the same
composition with the pelican, were engraved by Jacob
Matham (Fig. 2). This suggests that the present drawing
is preparatory to a work intended for a member of «Trou
moet Blijcken», or for the «rederijkerskamer» itself.
Fig. 1. Pieter Fransz. de Grebber,
Blason de la confrérie
“Trou moet Blijcken”
The strange rectangular shape of the present drawing and
the horizontal line in the center suggest that this is a study
for a small stained-glass window. Although no stained
glass windows designed by Bouckhorst are known today,
the artist’s activity in this 昀椀eld is well documented. One of
his stained glass windows is reproduced in an engraving
by Willem Outgertsz. Akersloot (1600-circa 1651) after a
now-destroyed window in Haarlem’s town hall, depicting
the siege of Damietta. The engraving was published in the
1628 edition of Samuel Ampzing’s Beschryvinge ende Lof
der Stad Haarlem. In it, the author praises Bouckhorst’s art:
Jan Bouchorst sal dijn naem niet eeuwelijk
beklijven? Wat sijt gy in de konst van teyk’nen
kloek, en vast! […] Het glas is broose waer: uw
glasen mogen breken Noch salmen nietemin van
Bouchorst altjd spreken:’
‘Jan Bouckhorst, will your name not always be
remembered ?
You are in the art of drawing bold and steady
The glass is fragile; your glasses might break
However, your name shall always be remembered’
Fig. 2. Jacob Matham d’après Hendrick
Goltzius, Blason de la confrérie
“Trou moet Blijcken”, gravure
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. Une épreuve au Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. RP-P-OB-78.094.
. S. Ampzing, Beschryvinge ende Lof der Stad Haarlem, Haarlem, 1628, p. 373.
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