CORNELIS VAN POELENBURCH
1594/95-1667
102 The Arch of Septimius
Severus, Rome
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, and black chalk; H:
29.1 cm (ii^7 /ióin.); W: 19.3 cm (7^5 /sin.)
87.00.76
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at bottom, in-
scribed in Roomen 1623 in brown ink by the artist; on
mount, at bottom, inscribed A. v. Dyck-i62j~in roomen
1623 in black chalk by a later hand; (verso) on mount,
inscribed Gjoi, de la collection de M. le Comte de Tessin,
(anteckning av... heim Overintendenten Fredenheim I
1748-1803.) in graphite; A. van Dyck, 1623, Titusbogen. I
Slg. C. G. Tessin, Stockholm-Paris I Slg Fredenheim
(1748-1803), Stockholm I Slg Bokhandl. Hansson, Djar-
sholm / Slg. Costa Stenman, Stockholm, Hansson har pa
baksidan av inrammingen / anteknat (<stod skrivet N° "32"*,
ofra vànsta I hornet med blickpa teckningensframsida troligenx
3f sàsom Tessin fordrade(?) in blue ink.
PROVENANCE: Count C. G. Tessin, Paris and Stock-
holm; Fredenheim, Stockholm; art market, Djarsholm;
Costa Stenman, Stockholm (sale, Christie's, London,
December 12, 1985 , lot 337); art market, Boston.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Chong, in P. C. Suttonetal., Masters
of i?th-Century Dutch Landscape Painting, exh. cat. (Mu-
seum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,
and Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1987), p. 408, under
no. 69; A. Chong, "The Drawings of Cornelis van Poe-
lenburch," Master Drawings 25, no. i (Spring 1987), pp.
4 , 8, 10, 27, no. 16.POELENBURCH'S EARLIEST SECURELY ATTRIBUTABLE
drawings consist of a small group of sheets inscribed by
the artist as having been made in Rome and dated 1620,
1621, and IÓ22.^1 The date on the present drawing pro-
vides documentation that Poelenburch was still living in
Rome in 1623 (Chong 1987, p. 27, no. 16). It is close in
style to his sketch of the Arch of Titus dated 1621 (Rijks-
prentenkabinet inv. A 3724), which similarly shows a
proximate view of an ancient monument isolated from
its surroundings. As in Pail-Mall Players near an Ancient
Ruin of 1622 (Rijksprentenkabinet inv. 1909.24), here
Poelenburch juxtaposed broadly washed areas of deep
shadow with brilliantly illuminated passages articulated
by the white paper. His unusual choice of an oblique
view of the arch, his attenuation of the columns, and his
omission of the attic inscription, relief carvings, and
archway openings behind the columns allowed him to
treat the structure as dissolving patterns of light and
shadow rather than as a solid, sculptural form. He also
omitted the medieval tower that had been erected on the
north pier (removed in 1636) and appears in earlier rep-
resentations.^2 It was observed by Chong (ibid., p. 27, no.
16) that similarly oblique views of triumphal arches ap-
pear in the backgrounds of paintings by Poelenburch in
the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kassel, and the Palaz-
zo Pitti.1. These include drawings in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris
(inv. Masson 368); Bibliothque Nationale, Paris (inv. cc.23,
fol. i); Rijksprentenkabinet (inv. A 3724, 1909:24); P. and N.
de Boer collection.- For example the drawing by Matthijs Bril in the Louvre (inv.
20.955)-
238 DUTCH SCHOOL • POELENBURCH