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| | Old Master Paintings & Drawings IV |
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| A Classical Temple Oil on panel 7 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches (18.4 x 23.5 cm) Signed and dated J v Vucht 1634 | |
It is generally believed that Jan van Vucht studied with the earliest known architectural master in the Northern Netherlands, Bartholomeus van Bassen, before Bassen left for The Hague in 1620. Jan van Vucht was strictly an architectural painter and his surviving oeuvre is small. Van Vucht sometimes collaborated with genre painter, Anthonie Palamedesz, from Delft, who added the staffage to the interiors. By 1627, Jan van Vucht was identified as the teacher to Anthonie de Lorme who specialized in depicting interiors of existing structures. Van Vucht often depicted the Romanesque revival of classical architecture in the form of fantasy temples. A comparatively small group of artists devoted themselves to architectural paintings at this time; inventories have evidenced that these works commanded very high prices and were usually collected by the more affluent and as artistic products were taken very seriously. Depictions of interiors became expressions of expertise in the application and use of perspective. The present one depicts the interior of an imaginary temple with architectural elements in the classical idiom. The vaulted ceilings rest on tapering columns capped by Corinthian capitals. The Romanesque vaults are echoed by the portals to either side of the central axis. The right portal contains a classically framed entry, the entablature supported by Corinthian capped columns. The columns are alternatively hung with armorials and two chandeliers hand from the ceiling of the central aisle. Both the French fleur-de-lys and the rampant lion (Netherlandish?) are depicted on the armorials; this interesting presentation contributes to the fantastic nature of the interior. Yet another curious feature of our seventeenth century composition is that the altar was most likely based on a sixteenth century prototype. The tilted floor lie the rest of the interior is more vividly pigmented in the foreground where figures of classically garbed soldiers stand. One soldier with a bow in his hand and a quiver of arrows on his back, stands surveying the scene. To the left stand two more soldiers engaged in conversation while another, using a ladder, makes an alteration to the column which strategically frames the left side of the Jan van Vucht painting. Our interior is special within van Vucht's oeuvre because it is both signed and dated. Among the few other signed works is a painting of a church interior at the Boymans Museum in Rotterdam which is comparable to our example in its tonality and style. | ||