Do you know Orlando, Bockbaert, Vrijman, Heremyt, Inamorato, Ratel or Orizzonte? For the last one, you may think of Jan Frans van Bloemen and you are right. For this painter was called Orizzonte by the Bentvueghels and is still known by that name. But it was also that of Claude Lorrain, who was part of that merry band of artists in Rome in the seventeenth century, like Paulus Bor, Karel Dujardin, Nicolas Régnier, Herman van Swanevelt, Valentin de Boulogne and Jan Baptist Weenix, painters whose nicknames were those we listed at the beginning of this article.
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- 1. View of the exhibition «De Bentvueghels» at the Centraal Museum d’Utrecht
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The Bentvueghels (literally "birds of a feather") were both a brotherhood, an informal association that had no status, neither written conditions necessary for membership, even though only artists, present in Rome, who were foreigners (mostly Flemish and Dutch, but also of other nationalities such as the Lorraine native Claude Gellée or the German Johann Liss) and who fulfilled an initiation rite were admitted. Both friends and competitors, they nevertheless helped each other and participated in a community of spirit, very marked by alcohol and noisy parties. If some of them have left a significant trace in the history of painting, others are barely names (or nicknames) whose birth and death dates are unknown, and whose sometimes no works are identified.
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- 2. View of the exhibition «De Bentvueghels» at the Centraal Museum d’Utrecht
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
It is to this brotherhood that the Centraal Museum in Utrecht is currently devoting a successful, and instructive, exhibition, although the accompanying catalogue, which is more of a book on the subject than a classic exhibition catalogue, is only in a Dutch edition [1], and does not reproduce all of the works presented. The directory of painters who belonged to this company (between 1620 and 1720 approximately), which forms the second half of this book, will remain a very useful tool for anyone interested in artistic life in Rome in the 17th century. Fortunately, the exhibition is very didactic and is accompanied by extensive labels in English, which make it easy to understand the subject matter.
The museography (ill. 1 and 2) is also very pleasant, with just the right amount of fantasy to liven up the tour, without going overboard with "playfulness". It begins with group portraits (ill. 3 and 4). Thanks to their names and nicknames written on the sheets next to their respective figures, they constitute a valuable source for their study. The nicknames were related to their character, behaviour and artistic qualities. Often flattering, sometimes indecipherable (at least to our contemporary eye), some refer to animals or mythological figures. Jan van Bijlert is Aeneas, Johann Liss is Pan and Cornelis van Poelenburgh is Satyr, a nickname that leaves little room for interpretation.
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- 3. Rome, c. 1623
Portraits of Four Bendvueghels
Red and black chalk, pen and brown ink - 28.2 x 42.6 cm
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans
van Beuningen
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 4. Rome, c. 1623
Portraits of eleven Bendvueghels
Pencil and black chalk, pen and brown ink - 41.8 x 55.4 cm
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans
van Beuningen
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
One of the best known by his nickname is Pieter van Laer, known as Il Bamboccio. Bamboccianti are sometimes confused with Bentvueghels, but the exhibition shows that this identification is rather simplistic. Bambochades are popular scenes, often parties or feasts popularised by Pieter van Laer, his friends and followers, many of whom were members of the Bentvueghels fraternity, but the two are not confused. The words "Bamboccianti" and "bambocciade" are derived from his nickname, the original meaning of which is "puppet". Pieter van Laer, depicted several Bentvueghels in a drawing (ill. 5) which is a bambocciade, where they are seen getting drunk in a tavern, probably at an initiation session, in the company of a Swiss guard who assisted the newly elected member at his induction. But as the famous Selfportrait with Magic Scene (ill. 6) in the exhibition, which forms the cover of the catalogue, shows, it cannot be reduced to these subjects. The Bentvueghels were landscape, portrait, still life and history painters...
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- 5. Pieter van Laer (1599-1642)
The Bendvueghels at a Roman Inn, c. 1630
Brown ink, brown wash
and black chalk - 20.3 x 25.8 cm
Berlin, Staatliche Museum, Kupferstichkabinett
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 6. Pieter van Laer (1599-1642)
Selfportrait with Magic Scene, vers 1635-1637
Oil on canvas - 80 x 114.9 cm
New York, The Leiden Collection
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 7. Bartholomeus Breenbergh (1598-1657)
Capriccio with Roman Ruins, Sculptures and a Port, 1650
Oil on canvas - 143 x 88.7 cm
Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The tour is thematic, focusing on grouping works by genre. It begins with views of Rome by well-known artists such as Bartholomeus Breenbergh, alias Fret (ill. 7), or lesser-known ones such as Hendrick Mommers, alias Slempop.
The learning of drawing and painting in Rome is also mentioned thanks to some painters who were not part of the Bentvueghels, such as Michael Sweerts or Wallerant Vaillant. It is a pity that this question of why painters who had all the titles to be included in the brotherhood - Michael Sweerts is obviously one of them - were not, is not addressed. Perhaps this question is dealt with in the book, but we were only able to skim through parts of it thanks to the translation tools [2]
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- 8. Jan Baptist Weenix (1621-1659)
Two designers in a Ruin, 1642-46
Brown wash - 21.7 x 26.8 cm
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans
van Beuningen
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 9. Herman van Swanevelt (c. 1603-1655)
La Porte Pinciana a Roma, 1629-41
Brown wash - 20.6 x 27.2 cm
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
There are many paintings, but also prints and drawings. There are some very fine wash drawings by Jan Baptist Weenix, alias Ratel (ill. 8), Hermann van Swanevelet, alias Heremyt (ill. 9), or the more confidential Adriaen van der Kabel, alias Geestigheid, which testifies to the level of excellence of all these painters, who benefited from a permanent emulation among their peers.
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- 10. Guilliam de Heusch (1612-1692)
Italian Landscape with Waterfall, c. 1660
Oil on panel - 61.5 x 43.5 cm
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans
van Beuningen
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 11. Jacob de Heusch (1756-1701)
An Italian Townscape with Figures, c. 1692-1701
Oil on panel - 32.2 x 39.8 cm
Private collection
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The exhibition thus makes it possible to discover many artists, with an excellent selection of works, such as Guilliam de Heusch [3] (ill. 10) whose nickname is unknown, and his nephew Jacob de Heusch (ill. 11), both from Utrecht but whose paintings come from the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts.
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- 12. Gerard van Kuijl (1604-1673)
Musical Company, 1651
Oil on canvas - 99 x 131 cm
Amsterdame, Rijksmuseum
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 13. Leonaert Bramer (1596-1674)
The Martyrdom of Saint Peter, c. 1620-25
Oil on copper - 24.5 x 30.5 cm
Private collection
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Although the exhibition is rich in landscapes, historical painting is not forgotten. It is clear that the Bentvueghels’ style was not uniform. There are caravagesques such as Gerard von Kuijl, who painted a musical scene (ill. 12), or Valentin de Boulogne and Nicolas Régnier (who are nevertheless absent from the exhibition), Rembrandt painters such as Leonard Bramer (ill. 13) or Paulus Bor (ill. 14), or ’classical’ painters such as Claude Lorrain (ill. 15) or Johan van Bronckhorst. Variety is truly one of the characteristics of this gathering of talents whose common ground was their taste for pleasure and festivity.
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- 14. Paulus Bor (c. 1600-1669)
The Descent from the Cross, c. 1635
Oil on canvas - 190.8 x 131.5 cm
Utrecht, Centraal Museum
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 15. Claude Gellée (1600-1682)
Pastoral Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, 1663
Oil on canvas - 193 x 147 cm
Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 16. Andries Both (1613-1642)
Peasants’ Inn, 1634
Oil on panel - 36 x 25.7 cm
Utrecht, Centraal Museum
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
The final part of the exhibition opens with still lifes by Samuel van Hoogstraten, alias Batavier and Jan Baptist Weenix, and concludes with an abundance of bambocciades either indoors with for example Andries Both (ill 16), or outdoors with Karel du Jardin (ill. 17) alia Bokkebart or Bockbaert, Jan Both (whose nickname is unknown) or Jan Miel alias Honing-Bie (ill. 18). Curiously, Michelangelo Cerquozzi, the closest follower of Pieter van Laer, several of whose works are shown here, was not a member of the brotherhood (he is absent from the repertoire). The exhibition concludes with some late paintings, reminding us that the brotherhood continued until the beginning of the 18th century. But the decline of the number of Nordic painters travelling to Rome amplified its decline, while the prohibition by Pope Clement XI, in a decree of 1720, of night parties outside the carnival period sounded its death knell.
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- 17. Karel Dujardin (1626-1678)
Italian Landscape with Girl Milking a Goat, 1652
Oil on panel - 37 x 50 cm
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 18. Jan Miel (c. 1599-1633)
Carnival in a Roman Piazza, c. 1650
Oil on canvas - 59.7 x 70.5 cm
Anvers, The Phoebus Foundation
Photo : Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
A visit to Utrecht and this beautiful exhibition is quite easy from Amsterdam. It is certainly worth a visit, as is the one devoted to Theodoor Rombouts (see article) which can be the subject of a joint excursion.
Curator: Liesbeth M. Helmus
Liesbeth M. Helmus, De Bentvueghels: een berucht kunstgenootschap in Rome 1620-1720, Unieboek | Het Spectrum, 2023, 416 p., €27.99. ISBN: 9789000366576.
Practical information: Centraal Museum, Nicolaaskerkhof 10, Utrecht. Tel: +31 (0) 30 2362362. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. Closed on Mondays. The museum is currently under construction and only the exhibition can be visited. Price: 15 € (reduced: 6,50 €).
Museum website.