Paradigmata graphices variorum artificum: voor-beelden der teken-konst van verscheyde meesters

Abstract

An important drawing book by the painter Jan de Bisschop (1628-1671), and equally an important source for the study of classical sculpture in European collections. “[De Bisschop] certainly depended on drawings by other artists, as well as the illustrations from François Perrier’s ‘Icones’ (Paris, 1645) for his two influential series of prints in book form, the ‘Signorum veterum icones’ (1668-9), with 100 prints after classical sculptures, dedicated to Johannes Wtenbogaard and Constantijn Huygens, and the ‘Paradigmata graphices variorum artificum’ (1671), with prints after old master drawings and dedicated to Jan Six. Some of the classical sculptures reproduced in de Bisschop’s ‘Icones’ were from the seventeenth-century collections of Gerrit Uylenburgh and Hendrik Scholten, to which de Bisschop had direct access; most of the old master drawings in the ‘Paradigmata’ were based on works by Italians: Annibale Carracci, Domenichino, Francesco Salviati, Cavaliere d’Arpino, Giulio Romano and others. The sequence of the ‘Icones’ adhered strictly to the classical tradition: first the individual parts of the body were illustrated (this section was left unfinished at de Bisschop’s premature death), then complete figures, followed by poses and suggestions for compositions with more than one figure. The prints were intended to provide artists with examples of ideal poses. From the paintings of Adriaen van der Werrff and Nicolaes Verkolje, it is clear just how influential these studies were in the development of Dutch classical painting during the late 17th century” (Ger Luijten).