Hans Witdoeck

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Hans (Johannes) Witdoeck , (baptized December 8, 1615 in Antwerp ; † 1639 or after June 24, 1642), was a Flemish engraver .

Life

Witdoeck began an apprenticeship with Lucas Vorsterman at the age of fifteen . He registered him as an apprentice at the Lucasgilde in 1630. He had arranged a three-year apprenticeship with Witdoeck's father, but halfway through that time the father placed the boy with the painter and etcher Cornelius Schut and in 1635 finally in Peter Paul Rubens' studio . This was preceded by disputes with Vorsterman, who accused his student of having copied his master's records and offered them for sale. For Rubens he made a number of copper engravings based on his works. In the history of art, he is valued more for his dexterity with the stylus and the general decorative effect of these works than for the correctness and severity of the drawing.

About him was written:

“Witdoeck is not a good draftsman, but with his somewhat petty work he knows how to achieve great decorative, coloristic effects by setting the dark, soft shadows in piquant contrast to large areas of light. He especially approaches Peter Soutman here. "

Nevertheless, he was accepted as a free master in the Antwerp Lucasgilde in 1631. He was listed there as an engraver, illuminator and art dealer. After 1639 all traces of Witdoeck are lost. This suggested that, as Henri Hymans suspected, he was only a trader. However, there is evidence that he died in that year or shortly after 1640, as at least two of his engravings were revised and his name was replaced by Schelte a Bolswert. This happened with the holy Caecilie and an adoration of the shepherds.

According to other reports, he is said to have married a Catharina Gommaerts on June 24, 1642 in the St. Andrieskerk in Antwerp. Witdoeck, (Witdouck, Witdouc) Jan . In: Hans Wolfgang Singer (Ed.): General Artist Lexicon. Life and works of the most famous visual artists . Prepared by Hermann Alexander Müller . 5th unchanged edition. tape 5 : Vialle-Zyrlein. Supplements and corrections . Literary Institute, Rütten & Loening, Frankfurt a. M. 1921, p. 111 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - here differently born in Antwerp in 1604).

Works (selection)

Working according to Schut:

  • Judith about to kill Holofernes , 1633
  • The holy family
  • Mary with the Child and John in Glory , 1633
  • St., Nicolaus appears to the Emperor Constantine in his sleep ...

Works according to Rubens:

  • The Bust of Demosthenes and the Bust of Cicero , 1638
  • Abraham and Melchizedek , 1638
  • The Erecting or Exalting the Cross, 1638
  • Saint Caecilie (playing the piano)
  • The Assumption of Mary , 1639
  • The beheading of Saint Justus , 1639

  • The bust of Cicero

  • Abraham and Melchizedek

  • The erection of the cross

literature

  • Michel Huber, Carl Christian Heinrich Rost, CG Martini: Hans or Johann Witdoeck, Withouc or Witdouck . In: Handbook for art lovers and collectors: about the most distinguished engravers and their works: from the beginning of this art to now, chronologically and in schools . Orell, Gessner, Füssli, Zurich 1796, p. 425-428 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
  • Georg Kaspar Nagler: Witdoeck, Jan (Hans), also Witdouck, Withouc, Widtovek . In: New general artist lexicon, or, news of the life and works of painters, sculptors, builders, engravers, form cutters, lithographers, draftsmen, medalists, ivory workers, ... 3rd edition. tape 24 . Schwarzenberg & Schumann, Leipzig 1936, p. 481-484 ( books.google.de ).
  • Hermann Arthur Lier:  Witdoeck, Jan . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, p. 553.
  • Witdoeck. Hans Witdoeck or Witdouck. In: Alfred von Wurzbach : Dutch Artist Lexicon. Volume 2: L-Z. Halm and Goldmann, Vienna and Leipzig 1910 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Witdoeck, Jan . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 36 : Wilhelmy-Zyzywi . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1947, p. 115 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Manfred Sellink: Witdoeck, Hans [Jan] . In: Grove Dictionary of Art . New York, doi : 10.1093 / gao / 9781884446054.article.T091888 (English).
  2. ^ A b Paul Kristeller : Copper engraving and woodcut in four centuries . 2nd, revised edition. Published by B. Cassierer, Berlin 1911, p. 354 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  3. ^ A b Karl Friedrich Arnold von Lützow: History of the multiplying arts: the Rubens engraver . Society for Reproductive Art, Vienna 1893, p. 133–143 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - with some illustrations of the copperplate engravings after Rubens).
  4. ↑ Christiaan Kramm: Witdoeck, of Witdouc. (Jan, of Hans) . In: De levens en works of Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, graveurs en bouwmeesters, van den vroegsten tot op onzen tijd . 1857, p. 1875 (Dutch, dbnl.org ).
  5. ^ Albert Fischer, Willibald Franke: The holy Caecilie after a painting by Peter Paul Rubens . In: The Kupferstichkabinet. Reproductions of works of graphic art from the end of the 15th century until the beginning of the XIX. Century . Fischer & Franke, Berlin 1897, p. 90 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
personal data
SURNAME Witdoeck, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Witdouc, Jan; Witdoeck, Jan; Witdouc, Hans; Witdoeck, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Flemish engraver
DATE OF BIRTH baptized December 8, 1615
PLACE OF BIRTH Antwerp
DATE OF DEATH 1639 or after 1642