Isabel Zinman. From Ausonia to Batavia: the artists of Hadrianus Junius reconsidered

Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro
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Isabel Zinman
From Ausonia to Batavia: the artists of Hadrianus Junius reconsidered
published in

Simiolus
Netherlands quarterly for the history of art
Volume 37 2013-2014 Number 3-4 pp. 204-226

Review by Giovanni Mazzaferro

 Lamentation of Christ with a Donor

, about 1535, Central Museum in Utrecht
Source: Google Art Project

First of all, I would like to explain the title. The poetic term 'Ausonia' means the land inhabited by the population of the Ausons, an Italic ethnic group defeated by the Romans (in an area roughly corresponding to today's Campania) and then - also indicating the dispersion of the Ausons - the whole of Italy. In short, Ausonia means Italy. Batavia, or the region which Tacitus indicates in the Annales as inhabited by the Batavians, roughly corresponding to today's Netherlands. The expression 'from Ausonia to Batavia', is used by the Humanist Hadrianus Junius (1511-1575) to praise the sculptor Willem von Danielsz Tetrode (known in Italy as Guglielmo Fiammingo) and a sculpture he made for the 'Oude Kerk' (old Cathedral) in the city of Delft, a sculpture destroyed in 1573 following the iconoclastic fury: "after seeing his work, anyone will swear that the glory of art has travelled from Ausonia [...] to the Batavians" (p. 215).

More generally, the article by Isabel Zinman (a text of rare interest) explores the Dutch art history sources prior to the Schilder-Boeck by Karel van Mander (1604). It documents that the descriptions of Dutch towns containing praise of artists (or, better to say, the 'collective biographies' of the same) are not born in the Dutch 'golden age' (i.e. in 1600) to support the independence of the nation, like it was long claimed by art historians. Instead, they originate from the humanistic tradition that spreads across Europe in the previous century. That tradition sees the emergence of literary models from antiquity, which were recovered from Italian humanism and then reprocessed elsewhere. Somehow, the Italian humanist matrix is clear and recalls, in the arts, the phenomenon of the so-called 'Romanisti' (Roma-followers), i.e. of those artists who travel to Italy and, in contact with the world of the Roman ruins and the 'modern manner', export it, changing styles, but always retaining their emphasis in their respective homelands [1]. At this point, I should say that the author's attention is concentrated on the 'collective biography' of artists presented by Hadrianus Junius (Adriaen de Jonghe) in his 'Batavia'. This is however not all, since the essay actually runs through an interlocking dual track: on the one hand, it examines Junius’ passages dedicated to the Dutch art makers, on the other hand, it dwells with the evolution of the genre of chorography (within which it should be considered the information provided by the erudite) in Europe and in the Netherlands during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 

Fig. 2) Maarten van Heemskerck, Self-portrait wiht the Colosseum, 1553, The Fitwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Source: Wikimedia Commons

The chorographic genre

The genre of chorography, of Greek origin, is the description, to the most minute detail, of the characteristics of a particular region, of the places that are found there and of the people who live there, as opposed to geography which instead aims at the graphic representation (via the drawing) of the aspect of the world. It is part of chorography also the illustration of the famous figures, who were born in or still brought honour to the places of which they speak. They also include artists. It should, however, not be forgotten that the tradition of the eulogy of artists (which actually started in Florence with Villani in late '300) orients itself at what is undoubtedly the most illustrious precedent testified in previous literature, or the Natural History of Pliny which, in the eyes of the humanists is undoubtedly the book to refer to. The first example of a chorographic text within which one can be find a section dedicated to artists is the Italia illustrata (Illustrated Italy) by Flavio Biondo, published posthumously in 1474. Another key text is the Descrittione di tutta l’Italia (Description of whole Italy) by Leandro Alberti (we are already in 1550). The rediscovery of the Latin works (such as the writings of Tacitus), combined with the availability of works of Italian origin, but often written in Latin or translated into that language, help spread the interest in chorography also in Northern Europe. There is, for example, a section dedicated to the artists in the Rerum Germanicarum epitome (Summary of German things) by Jacobus Wimphelingus in 1505.

Fig. 3) Jan Mostaert, Lanscape with an Episode of the Conquest of America, about 1535, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Source: Web Gallery of Art

The Dutch case unfolds around some fundamental texts. On this, the authoress recalls:

• the Collectanea (Miscellaneous) by Gerardus Geldenhouwer, an incomplete work, only published in the early twentieth century, but written around 1520;
• the Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi (Description of all Netherlands) by Lodovico Guicciardini, published in Antwerp in 1567, soon reprinted and translated. It should be remembered, however, that the work of Guicciardini relates only partly to Holland and in fact extends to all Low countries;
• Batavia by Hadrianus Junius, written in Latin between 1566 and 1575. Junius writes Batavia in particularly difficult years. At that time, the County of Holland is part of the so-called Seventeen Provinces, which are a personal possession of the Habsburg dynasty. After the abdication of Charles V (1556), the Seventeen Provinces are transferred to his son Philip, but soon the new monarch’s policy (and his fiscal claims) clash with the interests and the sensitivity of the Dutch, leading to a demand for independence. Junius was indeed appointed official historian by the independence camp and Batavia was, in fact, commissioned to support the Dutch requests even from a historical point of view. The religious claims add up to the political ones, and one of the facts that gives way to the conflict is the iconoclastic episode of 1566, with the attack on the churches and the destruction of sacred images by the Calvinists. The war (known as the Eighty Years' War) breaks out in 1568; in truth, the initial years, after an early favourable stage, are particularly difficult for the separatists, so that the publication of Batavia is halted and the commission received by Junius revoked. Nevertheless, the humanist continues to work on his text until his death, which occurs in 1575. The first edition is printed only in 1588;
• the Traiecti Batavorum descriptio (i.e. the description of Utrecht) by Arnoldus Buchelius, not published, written between 1588 and 1592;
• the Antverpia (On Antwerp) by the Jesuit Carolus Scribanius, published in 1610.

Fig. 4) Anthonis Mor, Portrait of Queen Mary I of England, 1554, Madrid, Prado Museum
Source: Wikimedia Commons

The artists in Hubertus Junius' Batavia

The titles of the cited works and the names of their authors (excluding Guicciardini and his Description) highlight some common elements: the language used is Latin and the names of the authors are latinized. It is a characteristic factor within the humanist tradition. It was already said that, when having to write a few notes of praise of local artists, all authors refer - some more, some less – to the lesson of Pliny and his Naturalis Historia. Pliny presents characteristic 'types' and the chorografer seeks the 'type' that is closest to the artist they discuss; in other cases, the authors relate to a modern artist the anecdotes, behaviours, and the attributes of several Latin or Greek artists. In any case, there is an undeniable influence of Pliny on the chorographic genre. This influence goes beyond the publication of Vasari's Vite (Lives) (1550 and 1568) and the Schilder-Boeck (The book of the painters) by Van Mander (1604), which propose biographical medallions of artists (it should however be remembered that the Schilder-Boeck has a complex structure and that the biographies of the Dutch and German artists constitute only a part). This is the reason why Ms Zinman also includes the analysis of the Antverpia by Scribanius: to demonstrate a continuity of genre (the chorography as an expression of the humanistic world) that looks to Pliny even when it might wink at patterns and obtain information from well more recent reference texts.

In his Batavia, Hubertus Junius inserts information relating to a dozen artists. While citing Pliny explicitly only three times, in all the eulogies there are comparisons to artists proposed by the Latin writer, except on one occasion, that of Anthonie van Blocklandt (1533? -1584). The other artists are the painters Jan van Scorel (1495-1562), Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), Jan Mostaert (1475? -1555), Anthonis Mor (1520-1576?), Pieter Aertsen (1508-1575), the engravers Dirk Volckertsz Coornhert (1522-1590), Philips Galle (1537-1612) and the already mentioned sculptor van Tetrode (1530-1587). Apart from van Tetrode, all are taken into account in the chapter entitled 'Regarding the talents, interests and habits of Holland'. The work of van Tetrode is instead related to the execution of his sculptures in the old cathedral of Delft and is therefore mentioned in the section "about the cities and major villages of Holland".

Fig. 5) Pieter Aertsen, The egg dance, 1552, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes, the quotes from Pliny are explicit (in the sense that they show the name of the ancient painter, to whom a modern art maker is compared); sometimes they are not overt. As an example, about van Scorel it is said that his way of colouring is sober (a - positive - condition that Pliny refers with the same words to Athenion of Maronea), but that his way of painting was sometimes criticized by those who, in quibbling, should not 'go beyond the sandal' (this is an anecdote related to Apelles: a shoemaker criticized him for not painting a perfect footwear, but he made absolutely clear to his censor that he would not accept any more criticism from him, beyond those relating to the sandal); moreover, Apelles again and Studius, a landscape painter, are brought together with van Heemskerck; about van Tetrode, it is said that his statue in Delft will attract people from all over the world as the Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles (and, instead, the statue was destroyed four or five years after its completion because the episode iconoclastic 1572, as said) and so on. Junius does not abandon Plinian references even when dealing with artists who exercise practices (such as engraving) that evidently did not exist in ancient times. Here the humanist defines the engraver as 'encausticus'; this has raised questions, since encaustic painting - as it is known - is a technique processing mural paintings with wax. However Ms Zinman has a convincing explanation for it; the authoress points out that Pliny also speaks of it as painting with a stylus, or as a real incision on a solid material. Junius takes from Pliny the lexicon that seems more suited to his need. 

Fig. 6) Anthonie van Blocklandt, Jospeh interpreting Pharaoh's Dream, Central Museum in Utrecht
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Some considerations are due on the names proposed by Hubertus. Most of the artists in question (as shown by the illustrations accompanying this post) can be considered as 'Romanisti', i.e. artists who have known and absorbed the Italian lesson. However, there are examples of artists such as Jan Mostaert who are foreign to this culture, and the most striking case (and also the most discussed by the authoress in relation to previous controversial judgments of art historians) is Pieter Aertsen, a genre painter, for whom, however, Junius spends words of praise just like for all the others, noting that one can never have enough with seeing the variety of his paintings, and (above all) that his works sell far better than thoughtful and intellectually more challenging canvases.

As already said, we are part of the chorographic genre: those of Junius are commendations and it is not here that we can expect tough stances or stylistic negative verdicts. The cited artists bring prestige to Holland. The (unanswered) question that immediately comes to my mind is what the criteria were, according to which the author has made his selection. Does the absence of an artist and the presence of another reveal a preventive censorship? Frankly, I do not think so, but it is an issue to be kept in mind. 

Fig. 7) Philips Galle, Garden of Holland, about 1563
Fonte: http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/nl/geheugen/view?coll=ngvn&identifier=BVB01%3AMB1563DIPK

The Traiecti Batavorum descriptio by Arnoldus Buchelius

That issue is to be kept in mind especially in light of what Ms Zinman says of the Description of Utrecht by Buchelius. All in all, the 'collective biography' dedicated to the artists has to be assessed as more modest than that of Junius, both in terms of quantity (five painters, an architect and a goldsmith, but the real 'portraits' are only three) and because it almost always repeats the same words (and therefore the same combinations to Pliny) of the author of Batavia. In the text of Buchelius (written between 1588 and 1592) there are references to few works of art makers. Moreover, these references are very general (of the kind: “of this author, I saw a Nativity, a Pentecost" etc.) and prove of little use. The real interest that arises when it comes to Buchelius is that we have from this author – it is a unique case – a handwritten collection of notes on art, now kept at the University of Utrecht (all in all, they are some pretty patchy 34 pages) in which the humanist reported (perhaps during his entire lifetime) the information he deemed important on the art world known to him (thus, literary quotations, but also paintings he saw and so on); a kind of almanac, in short, that lists notes ready for use. The manuscript was conventionally given the title of Res pictoriae. Also known to Schlosser (in his Kunstliteratur – Art literature – defines it as valuable) the manuscript was transcribed and annotated by G.J.Hoogewerff in 1928, but there is no evidence of subsequent editions [2].

The important aspect is that the Res pictoriae also includes some information on artists cited by Buchelius in the Description of Utrecht, which has been deliberately censored. In particular, it is said that van Scorel was considered an arrogant and rude man or that Anthonis Mor, before starting to paint, had a highly questionable life style. The reasons of the (self)censorship are obvious. Within chorography, only the positive side of people counts and anything that might denigrate the reputation of an artist would ultimately carry the same effect on the reputation of the city or the region, which is subject of the discussion. 

Fig. 8) Willem Danielsz van Tetrode, Mercury, 1549-1550, Los Angeles County Museum Of Art
Source: Beesnest McClain tramite Wikimedia Commons

***

In conclusion, I cannot but thank Peter Hecht for the courtesy with which he responded to my request and sent me for free some issues of Simioulus. Netherlands quarterly for the history of art (the magazine published since more than 50 years of which it may be said - hoping that no one be offended – that he is the deus ex machina). Hadrianus Junius knew well Bologna, where I am living. There he majored in philosophy and medicine in 1540. Even Professor Hecht knows Bologna well, judging by the precise reference to what, also in my opinion, is now the best restaurant in town. My hope is to be able to meet him in person soon, in front of a laden table.

NOTES

[1] See Nicole Dacos, Viaggio a Roma. I pittori europei nel ‘500 (Journey to Rome. The European painters in 1500), Milano, Jaca Book, 2012.

[2] An article by Victor Schmidt on the manuscript, available on the internet, was released in 2016. It is Buchelius's "Res pictoriae" and the writing about art, in: "Gij zult niet feestbundelen": 34 bijdragen voor Peter Hecht, eds. Jonathan Bikker, Erik Hinterding, Everhard Korthals Altes, Eddy Schavemaker, Amsterdam, 2016, pp. 183-189.