Beskrivning: Beskrivning i inventariet: 

[slut]

Description: Pen and brown ink, heightened with white, on grey paper, 190 x 223 mm. No watermark. Chain lines: 27 mm. Signed at the bottom HB f (monogrammed) and dated 1624, in pen and brown ink. Numbered in the lower right corner, in pen and brown ink, 2016 (Sparre). Mark of the Royal Collection (Lugt 1638).

This and the following two drawings belong to a series depicting officers in various attitudes, perhaps intended for a series of prints. They were acquired by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, probably when he was travelling through the Low Countries in 1687, and were later catalogued by Carl Gustaf Tessin as anonymous. They seem to have been attributed to Hendrick Bloemaert by Olof Granberg about a century ago, probably on the basis of the monogram. Another drawing of a soldier in the same manner and dated 1624, in the Detroit Institute of Art, obviously belongs to the same series. The connection was first noted by I. Q. van Regteren Altena, who tentatively suggested H. Breckerveld (letter to P. Bjurström, 18 January 1973, curatorial files). Later Logan proposed the name of Blockhauwer, based on similarities with a landscape drawing in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. In her recent catalogue of this collection, Turner also draws attention to a group of drawings in Amsterdam, given to Breckerveld by Marijn Schapelhouman, suggesting that an attribution to Blockhauwer should be considered. However, Van’t Zelfde makes a strong case for attributing the entire group of drawings to Breckerveld.

The similarity in manner between the Stockholm and Amsterdam drawings is indeed striking. In the three landscape drawings,  we find the same systematic, almost schematic but still varied hatching. The drawing of a Minerva with shield and spear  is comparable to the Stockholm drawing as far as the treatment of the motif goes, but quite different in manner, being executed largely with the brush; it is also a much later drawing, signed and dated 1660. These drawings are clearly by an expert draughtsman and engraver, which Breckerveld was. In contrast, Blockhauwer seems to have been more of an “amateur” (Logan), influenced by this graphic manner, but less disciplined. Similar male figures are found in Breckerveld’s etchings of the four seasons (Hollstein, III, nos. 3–6). [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 108]

Utforska konstnärer och föremål som finns i Nationalmuseums samlingar.

Explore the artists and artworks of Nationalmuseum Sweden.

Herman Breckerveld | Officer vänd åt vänster, pekande | Nationalmuseum

Herman Breckerveld | Officer Facing Left, Pointing | Nationalmuseum

Foto: Hans Thorwid / Nationalmuseum, CC BY SA 