Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 - 14 October 1688) was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
BaroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
art-historian and
painterPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
, active in
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
during the
Dutch Golden AgeThe Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world.- Causes of the Golden Age :...
.
Sandrart was born in
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
, but the family originated from
MonsMons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital...
. According to Houbraken (who used his Teutsche Akademie as a primary source), he learned to read and write from Theodoor de Brie and Matheus Nierian, but at age 15 was so eager to learn the art of engraving, that he walked from Frankfurt to
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
to become a pupil of Gillis Sadelaar.
Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 - 14 October 1688) was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
BaroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
art-historian and
painterPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
, active in
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
during the
Dutch Golden AgeThe Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world.- Causes of the Golden Age :...
.
Biography
Sandrart was born in
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
, but the family originated from
MonsMons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital...
. According to Houbraken (who used his Teutsche Akademie as a primary source), he learned to read and write from Theodoor de Brie and Matheus Nierian, but at age 15 was so eager to learn the art of engraving, that he walked from Frankfurt to
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
to become a pupil of Gillis Sadelaar. He in turn urged him to paint, whereupon he travelled to
UtrechtUtrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern end of the Randstad, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands, with a population of 300,030 in 2007...
in 1625 to become a pupil of Gerrit van Honthorst, and through him he met
RubensRubens is often used to mean Peter Paul Rubens , Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:*Paul Rubens , co-lyricist of Florodora*Alma Rubens , American actor*Bernice Rubens , Welsh novelist...
in 1627, as part of his
Marie de' Medici cycleThe Marie de' Medici Cycle is a series of twenty-four paintings by Peter Paul Rubens commissioned by Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry IV of France, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. Rubens received the commission in the autumn of 1621...
. Honthorst took Sandrart along with him when he travelled to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. There he collaborated with Honthorst and spent time making copies of Holbein portraits for the portrait gallery of
Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of ArundelHenry Frederick Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, PC was an English noble and the second son of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel and Lady Alethea Talbot, later 13th Baroness Furnivall...
.
Making all of those copies only served to arouse more curiosity in the young adventurer, and in 1627 Sandrart booked a passage on a ship from London to
VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
, where he was welcomed by Jan Lis (Houbraken claims his
BentvueghelsThe Bentvueghels were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent .-Activities:...
bent name was
Pan), and Nicolaas Ringnerus. He then set out for
BolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of northern Italy...
, where he was met by his cousin on his father's side Michael le Blond, a celebrated engraver. With him, he crossed the mountains to
FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
, and from there on to
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, where they met
Pieter van LaerPieter van Laer was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre scenes, active for over a decade in Rome, where his nickname was Il Bamboccio...
, (bent name
Bamboots). became famous as a portrait-painter. After a few years he undertook a tour of Italy, travelling to
NaplesNaples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
, where he drew studies of
Mount VesuviusMount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano east of Naples, Italy. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
, believed to be the entrance to the
Elysian fieldsIn Greek mythology, the Elysian Fields in Elysium were the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous.Elysian Fields may also refer to:In geography:...
described by
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works—the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the Aeneid—although several minor poems are also attributed to him.The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be...
. From there he travelled to
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
and beyond, searching for literary sights to see and paint, and wherever he went he paid his way by selling portraits, sometimes to some very impressive people. Only when he was done travelling did he finally return to Frankfurt, where he married Johanna de Milkau.
Afraid of political unrest and plague, he moved to Amsterdam with his wife in 1637.
Painting career
In Amsterdam he worked as a painter of genre works, and portraits. He won a very good following as a painter, winning a lucrative commission for a large commemorative piece for the state visit by Maria of Medici in 1638, which hangs in the
RijksmuseumThe Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history...
. This piece was commissioned by the Bicker Company of the Amsterdam
schutterijA Schutterij , literally "shooters" was a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire...
, and shows the members posing around a bust of Maria of Medici, with a poem by
Joost van den VondelJoost van den Vondel was a Dutch writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His pieces are the ones from that period that are still most frequent on public display.Performance of his theatre pieces is regular...
hanging below it. The state visit was a big deal for Amsterdam, as it meant the first formal recognition of the
Dutch RepublicThe Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was a European republic between 1581 and 1795, in about the same location as the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands,...
of the seven provinces by
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. However, Maria herself was fleeing Richelieu at the time and never returned to France. This piece cemented his reputation as a leading painter, and in 1645 Sandrart decided to cash in and go home when he received an inheritance in Stockau, outside
IngolstadtIngolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As of December 31, 2005, Ingolstadt had 121,801 residents. It is part of the Munich Metropolitan Area with a population of more than 5 million.Ingolstadt is...
, he sold his things and moved there. He receieved 3000 guilders for 2 books of his Italian drawings, that according to Houbraken
were resold in his lifetime for 4555 guilders.
Though he rebuilt the old homestead, it was burned by the French. He sold it and moved to
AugsburgAugsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria in Germany. It is a College town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, where he painted for the family of the Elector of Bavaria. When his wife died in 1672, Sandrart moved to
NurembergNuremberg is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city. It is located about 170 kilometres north of Munich, at 49.27° N 11.5° E. The population is...
, where he married Hester Barbara Bloemaart, the daughter of a magistrate there. This is where he started writing.
His large 1649 painting
Peace-Banquet commemorating the
Peace of MünsterThe Peace of Münster was a treaty between the United Netherlands and Spain signed in 1648. It was a landmark treaty for the Dutch republic and one of the key events in Dutch history; with it, the United Netherlands finally became independent from the Holy Roman Empire...
, now hangs in Nuremberg's town hall.
Teutsche Akademie
He is best known as an author of books on art, some of them in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
, and especially for his historical work, the
Teutsche Akademiehttp://ta.sandrart.net, published between 1675 and 1680, of which there is a more recent edition by Sponsel (1896). This work is a educational compilation of short biographies of artists, that was inspired by Karel van Mander's similar
Schilder-boeck. Both Sandrart and van Mander based their
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
sections on the work of
Giorgio VasariGiorgio Vasari was an Italian painter and architect, who is today famous for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany...
. His work in turn became one of the primary sources for
Arnold HoubrakenArnold Houbraken was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of artists from the Dutch Golden Age. He had ten children. His son Jacobus Houbraken was an engraver of portraits and book illustrations, including books by his father...
's
Schouburg, who wrote a little poem about him:
Sandrart published the first biography of the German artist
Matthias GrünewaldMatthias Grünewald or "Mathis" , "Gothart" or "Neithardt" , , was an important German Renaissance painter of religious works, who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the expressive and intense style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century.Only ten paintings—several...
, and incorrectly bestowed on the artist the name
Grünewald by which he is now popularly known.
External links