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Lot Essay
This small, intricately detailed church interior was executed by the Flemish painter Hendrick van Steenwijck in 1621 when he was active in London. The artist travelled there in 1617, having first practiced in Antwerp, where he had collaborated with such leading painters as Jan Breughel the Elder and Frans Francken the Elder. His decision to move to London was no doubt prompted by the Stuart Court’s reputation for its appreciation and patronage of art, and thus the prospect of attracting wealthy and cultured patrons. Steenwijck rapidly established a successful practice amongst the community of Dutch painters in London, collaborating with Daniel Mytens in his work for the Earl of Arundel. Steenwijck soon attracted royal patronage: his Liberation of Saint Peter (dated 1619; Royal Collection, Hampton Court Palace) and his Christ in the house of Martha and Mary (dated 1620; Paris, Musée du Louvre) were probably painted for either Queen Anne of Denmark, or the young Prince of Wales, future King Charles I of England.
The architecture in this painting is based on the interior of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal in Antwerp, which provided the inspiration for many of the artist’s works. Rather than producing a faithful record of the cathedral interior, however, this work should be understood as more of a ‘variant on an architectural theme’ (J. Howarth, The Steenwyck Family as Masters of Perspective, Turnhout, 2009, p. 48), intended to astonish the viewer with its remarkable illusion of space and light. This is one of only a small number of works depicting churches executed by the artist in a circular format that are known today and one of only three that are painted on a copper support (ibid., nos. II.B30, II.B35, II.52 and II.B74).
An inventory of Ham House, taken in 1655 after the death of William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart (c. 1600-1655), did not unfortunately furnish details of the portable pictures decorating the house. The earliest record of the pictures at Ham was made several decades later in circa 1683 at the behest of his daughter, Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, 2nd Countess of Dysart (1626-1698), who had inherited Ham and her father’s title as the eldest of his five daughters. According to this ‘Estimate of Pictures’, hanging in ‘Her Graces private Closset’ was ‘A perspective of Stanewick [sic]’, valued at £10. It appears again in later inventories of 1844 and 1911, by which date it has been moved to the Green Closet, which was transformed into a ‘Cabinet Room’, modelled on that of Charles I at Whitehall Palace, by William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart. Inspired by Italian Renaissance studiolo, these small rooms provided a space for collectors to assemble small-scale art objects and treasures, including cabinet pictures, medals, drawings, engravings and portrait miniatures. This painting is shown in a photograph of the room, published by Country Life in 1920 (fig. 1), displayed alongside Steenwijck's Interior of a church with a seated figure by lamplight, which is being offered in the Old Masters Day sale, 4 December 2019, lot 168.
The architecture in this painting is based on the interior of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal in Antwerp, which provided the inspiration for many of the artist’s works. Rather than producing a faithful record of the cathedral interior, however, this work should be understood as more of a ‘variant on an architectural theme’ (J. Howarth, The Steenwyck Family as Masters of Perspective, Turnhout, 2009, p. 48), intended to astonish the viewer with its remarkable illusion of space and light. This is one of only a small number of works depicting churches executed by the artist in a circular format that are known today and one of only three that are painted on a copper support (ibid., nos. II.B30, II.B35, II.52 and II.B74).
An inventory of Ham House, taken in 1655 after the death of William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart (c. 1600-1655), did not unfortunately furnish details of the portable pictures decorating the house. The earliest record of the pictures at Ham was made several decades later in circa 1683 at the behest of his daughter, Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, 2nd Countess of Dysart (1626-1698), who had inherited Ham and her father’s title as the eldest of his five daughters. According to this ‘Estimate of Pictures’, hanging in ‘Her Graces private Closset’ was ‘A perspective of Stanewick [sic]’, valued at £10. It appears again in later inventories of 1844 and 1911, by which date it has been moved to the Green Closet, which was transformed into a ‘Cabinet Room’, modelled on that of Charles I at Whitehall Palace, by William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart. Inspired by Italian Renaissance studiolo, these small rooms provided a space for collectors to assemble small-scale art objects and treasures, including cabinet pictures, medals, drawings, engravings and portrait miniatures. This painting is shown in a photograph of the room, published by Country Life in 1920 (fig. 1), displayed alongside Steenwijck's Interior of a church with a seated figure by lamplight, which is being offered in the Old Masters Day sale, 4 December 2019, lot 168.