Monday, April 24, 2017

Hendrik Goltzius Draws Classical Sculpture

Hendrik Goltzius
Alexander and Bucephalus (Quirinal)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Alexander and Bucephalus (Quirinal)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617) made "a long-awaited journey to Italy" in 1590 when he was in his early thirties and already established as a significant Dutch artist. "In Rome, he appears to have wanted to create a series of engravings of famous works of art like his Farnese Hercules, in particular classical statues, based on new and reliable drawings made on the spot."  The vivid engravings of classical statues published by Goltzius have appeared here several times, but the original Roman drawings that preceded those engravings have not. A good number of those were acquired by Queen Christina of Sweden in Rome, though not until several decades after the death of the artist. Christina's albums of drawings ultimately passed to Teylers Museum in Haarlem, where they have remained. In labeling them here, I have followed Francis Haskell's titles for the statues as published in his essential reference, Taste and the Antique (Yale, 1981).

Hendrik Goltzius
Pasquino (Piazza del Pasquino, Rome)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Wolf (Capitoline)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Belvedere Antinous (Vatican)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Belvedere Torso (Vatican)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Nile (Vatican)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Tiber (Louvre)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Farnese Flora (Naples)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Venus Felix (Vatican)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Trophy of Marius (Capitoline)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Trophy of Marius (Capitoline)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Laocoön (Vatican)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Hendrik Goltzius
Lion attacking a horse (Capitoline)
1590-91
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

The lion sculpture with horse fragment (above) is known to have been on view in Rome as early as the 1300s.  Drawing the lion during his Roman expedition of 1590-91 Hendrik Goltzius recorded a significant moment in its existence. Just a few years later an entire, newly-carved horse-head-and-neck was added to the original trunk  a 'restoration'  to tremendously unfortunate effect. And the piece remains in this same sadly-improved condition four centuries later.