JAN DE BISSCHOP
1628-167 1gi The Sons ofNiobe Being Slain
by Apollo and Diana
Brown wash and black chalk; H: 23.9 cm (9^7 /i6 in.); W:- 8 cm (ló'/ióin.)
88.GA.54
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Verso) inscribed E mar-
maro antiqus in brown ink by the artist, d historie van
Niobe I na antijq N° 169. in black chalk, 26 in red chalk,
Jan de Bisschop 11628-1671 in graphite.
PROVENANCE: G. Uilenbroek(P) (sale, Beukalaar van
den Land, Amsterdam, October 23 , 1741, portfolio G,
no. 43); M. Terwesten(P) (sale, De Groot, The Hague,
September 20, 1757, portfolio B, no. 3);DionisMuilman,
Amsterdam (sale, Jan de Bosch, Jr., Corn. Ploos van
Amstel, Hendrik de Winter, Amsterdam, March 29,
1773, lot 167); D. de Jongh (sale, van Rijp, Muys, van
Leen, Rotterdam, March 26, 1810, portfolio T, no. 2); A.
Beheydt et al. (sale, Rotterdam, April 26, 1911, lot 398);
private collection, Cambridge, Mass, (sale, Christie's,
New York, January 14, 1986, lot 169); art market,
London.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. G. van Gelder and I. Jost, Jan de Bis-
schop and His Icones and Paradigmata, éd. K. Andrews
(Doornspijk, 1985), pp. 96-97, nn. 24-25.
DE BISSCHOP PORTRAYED THE SUBJECT OF APOLLO
and Diana slaying the sons and daughters of Niobe
(Ovid, Metamorphoses 6:204-312) in this and another
drawing (Amsterdam Historisch Museum inv. A 18008)
as well as including plates after the so-called Medici
Group of antique niobid marbles (Uffizi) in his Signorum
veterum icones (van Gelder and Jost 1985, pp. 94-97). In
contrast to the Amsterdam drawing, which shows the
deaths of both the daughters and sons ofNiobe, the pres-
ent example only depicts the slaying of the sons. Like
many other drawings by de Bisschop, it is inscribed by
the artist as having been based on an antique relief. A
drawing that may be identical to this sheet is described in
the Terwesten sale catalogue (1757) as being after a work
by Algardi. J. Montagu, however, has pointed out^1 that
this drawing is not based on Algardi but is closer to a re-
lief (location unknown) of which there is a cast in the Vic-
toria and Albert Museum. When the cast was acquired
in 1879, it was thought to be after Pierino da Vinci, but
the author may well prove to be Netherlandish.^21. Letter to L. Hendrix, June 5, 1990. The author wishes to
thank Dr. Montagu for her assistance.
2. A. Radcliffe kindly offered this suggestion in a letter to
L. Hendrix, August 7, 1990.2l6 DUTCH SCHOOL • DE BISSCHOP