Master of the Egmont Albums
The Master of the Egmont Albums (f 1575–1620) is the name given to an unknown draughtsman of the Renaissance active at the end of the 16th century and early 17th century.[1] Today, between 30 and 50 drawings in total are attributed to the master by comparison of styles. Some of these attributions are disputed by scholars.[2] The themes of the drawings range from biblical scenes, mostly from the life of Jesus, mythological stories and battle scenes.[3]
Identification[edit]
He was given his notname after five or six anonymous drawings, which were included in six albums of drawings that were formerly in the collection of John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont who had acquired them at the beginning of the 18th century. Since 1957 the albums are in the possession of the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven in the United States.[3]
His links with the Habsburg Netherlands are attested by the Dutch-language inscriptions on two drawings: a sheet kept at Loppem Castle in Belgium and a drawing in the Prentenkabinet of Leiden University in the Netherlands.[4] His works show Italian and Nordic influences. This seems to indicate an initial training in the Southern Netherlands and a trip to southern Europe, as his works show knowledge of Venetian and Roman art as well as the works of Albrecht Dürer.[5] The artist my also have had links with Cologne as the paper on which he produced one of his drawings bears a watermark that was in use in Cologne at the time. In a print of c. 1600 engraved by Crispijn van de Passe, who was active in Cologne, after a drawing attributed to the master, the (abbreviated) name of the inventor is 'Quiten d M'. This may be a reference to the Flemish Renaissance painter Quentin Metsys the Younger who was active in Germany. It has, however, not been possible to identify the artist behind this monogram.[1][2] It is likely that he was active in Italy in the late 16th century but spent most of his career in Northern Europe.[2]
Nicole Dacos tentatively identified the artist in 1990 with the Amsterdam-based artist Dirck Hendricksz Centen (better known as Teodoro d'Errico), who was active in Naples from 1574.[4][6]. This hypothesis was definitively rejected after the discovery of an autograph drawing by Dirck Hendricksz Centen, which was auctioned at Sotheby's in London on 15 July 2012 as lot number 14, because that drawing was stylistically very different from the drawing styles of the drawings attributed to the master.[1] Previously, Anthonie Blocklandt van Montfoort, Claudius Cock, Frans Francken the Elder, Jacob de Gheyn I, Hendrick Goltzius, Hans von Aachen, Giovanni Antonio da Pordenone, Giulio Romano, Giovanni della Rovere, Domenico Puligo, Tintoretto a Northern follower of Francesco Salviati and Giovanni Battista Naldini and even Rubens have also been suggested as possible creators of some of the drawings attributed to the Master on the basis of stylistic comparison. The broad range of attributions reflects the eclectic style of the artist.[2]
Work[edit]
Between 30 and 50 drawings are attributed to the master.[2] Art historians including Philip Pouncey started from the 5 or 6 drawings given to the artist in the Egmont albums to attribute additional works to the Master. Initially only pen-and-ink drawings were included in the corpus of the Master. In 1964, three black-chalk drawings were added to the oeuvre. The latter attributions are not uncontested. Further attributions of works in the Louvre, Paris, and the Kupferstich-Kabinett of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, raised the number of attributions to about 50 drawings in various media.[3]
His subjects include Bible stories as well as battle scenes.[5]
His artistic style adapts to the Mannerism prevalent in central Italy. The drawings are also reminiscent of the works of the Flemish artist Bartholomew Spranger, the most famous of the Northern Mannerists who worked at the imperial court in Prague. The master's graphic stroke is very light in the details. The use of the pen is extremely varied and spontaneous.[4] He worked out his complex compositions in black chalk over which he drew strong pen lines often in two different shades of brown ink and juxtaposing dark hatched shadows alongside areas of white paper.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Master of the Egmont Albums at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
- ^ a b c d e f Suzanne Boorsch, John Marciari: Master Drawings from the Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven 2006, pp. 104-106
- ^ a b c William W. Robinson and Susan Anderson, Drawings from the Age of Bruegel, Rubens, and Rembrandt: Highlights from the Collection of the Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2016), cat. no. 56, pp. 194-197, repr. p. 195 (recto) and p. 196 (verso); watermark p. 378
- ^ a b c Gert Jan van der Sman, Maestro degli Album Egmont, Sacra famiglia con San Giovannino e l'angelo, Stampe e disegni dal XVI al XX secolo. Pandolfini, November 18, 2015, lot number 77
- ^ a b Master of the Egmont Albums, Battle of the Tritons, on the website of the Yale University Art Gallery
- ^ Nicole Dacos: Le Mâitre des albums Egmont: Dirck Hendricksz. Centen. In: Oud Holland, 104, 2, 1990, pp. 49-68
External links[edit]
Media related to Master of the Egmont Albums at Wikimedia Commons
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