A River God and Ceres in an Ornamental Frame

Artist/Maker

DatesMade: Made ca 1620 - 1640

Material / Technique

Dimensionsh x w: 10,8 x 28,2

Inventory numberNMH CC 1909

AcqusitionDonated 1941 by Eric Langenskiöld. Formerly in the Cronstedt collection, Fullerö

Other titlesTitle (sv): En flodgud och Ceres i en dekorativ ram Title (en): A River God and Ceres in an Ornamental Frame

DescriptionDescription: Plats: Holland Verso: Recto's ornament repeated in reverse Black chalk, brown wash, heightened with white, on brown paper, 108 x 282 mm. Verso: The ornament on the recto repeated in reverse, black chalk. Watermark: Letter H or PH (monogrammed). Chain lines: 20–23 mm. An underlying sketch in a greyish chalk is barely visible. Wash has been added to it and the outlines have been strengthened with a darker chalk similar to charcoal. More often Bloemaert used pen and ink for this purpose. The style is clearly Bloemaert’s, but there are some unusual traits. The framing lines and the ornament sketched on the left are in a different chalk, which has led to the assumption that these were added by a later hand. The provenance from the Cronstedt Collection, which mainly contains architectural and ornamental drawings, the majority of French origin, would seem to support this, and the drawing has been regarded as a French imitation of Bloemaert; he was popular with Boucher among others. The ornament has been copied to the verso, as if the design was intended to be repeated in reverse. Iconographically, something of a parallel can be found in the series of sea cavalcades, dating from the 1620s. Bolten dates the drawing to 1620–40. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 56]

Collection

Geographical origin

MaterialBlack chalk (Crayon), Paper

TechniqueDrawing, Elevated, Wash drawing