Leiden University Student Repository

Querol Torelló, Cèlia 2019

Painter-Advisors: The Seventeenth-Century Spanish Purchase from Rubens's Estate Sale

Master thesis | Arts and Culture (MA)

open access

The present thesis explores the idea of the painter-advisor at the seventeenth-century Spanish court by means of the case study of the sale of Rubens's art collection in 1640. Philip IV bought...Show moreThe present thesis explores the idea of the painter-advisor at the seventeenth-century Spanish court by means of the case study of the sale of Rubens's art collection in 1640. Philip IV bought around thirty paintings from the master's estate. In this operation, a group of painters developed important tasks of advising either on behalf of the Spanish king or Rubens. Here these tasks will be further analyzed in order to add evidence to the phenomenon of painter-advisors in Europe throughout the 17th century, as well as to their multifaceted careers that, more often that it is thought, not only included the production of paintings, but also other services based on their connoisseurship.Show less

Caspers, Max 2013

Baron W.H.J. van Westreenen van Tiellandt. A Dutch bibliophile in search for antiquity in the early days of modern archaeology.

Master thesis | Archaeology (MA/MSc)

open access

This thesis highlights Baron W.H.J. van Westreenen van Tiellandt (1783-1848) as a collector of antiquities in early nineteenth century Holland. The professionalising of science during the...Show moreThis thesis highlights Baron W.H.J. van Westreenen van Tiellandt (1783-1848) as a collector of antiquities in early nineteenth century Holland. The professionalising of science during the Enlightenment era had a considerable impact on the study of antiquity as well. Take for example Winckelmann’s history of antique art, and the late eighteenth century Altertumswissenschaft incorporating all facets of the classical world (texts, inscriptions and material remains). The latter movement, which also found its way to Holland, strongly contributed to the genesis of the academic archaeological discipline in Leiden in 1818. Moreover, partly due to the Romantic movement in the first half of the nineteenth century and the involvement of institutionalised museums of antiquity, the rather patriotic approach to antiquity gradually took the upper hand over focussing on the splendour of the classical Mediterranean context which had dominated the antiquarian world before. The longstanding humanist tradition of studying classical remains in their native context increasingly gained adherents and was also supported by the first professor of archaeology, C.J.C. Reuvens (1793-1835). But how exactly does Van Westreenen fit as a collector in this fascinating period of shifting receptions of and approaches to antiquity? Although a bibliophile at heart, he was also charmed by classical material culture in general and more specifically, like Reuvens, those unearthed on Dutch soil. In this thesis the involvements of Van Westreenen in the study of the Roman settlement Arentsburg and the Roman fort Brittenburg are treated and compared to Reuvens’, serving as a benchmark of contemporary scientific archaeological research. This study exposes the differences and similarities in their methodology and perception of antiquity and places them in the reshaping political and cultural climate of the early nineteenth century. Finally Van Westreenen’s collecting policy is analysed diachronically, based on his handwritten Catalogue des livres, manuscrits et antiquites. This catalogue describes his acquisitions of 264 Roman antiquities between 1797 and 1835 and allows for a study of Van Westreenen’s underlying rationale of collecting antiquities.Show less