Van Dyck's Icones Principum Virorum Doctorum

VAN DYCK, ANTHONY

Icones Principum Virorum Doctorum, Pictorum Chalcographorum Statuariorum nec non Amatorum Pictoriae Artis numero centum. Antwerp: Gillis Hendricx, 1645. The personal set of the great print dealer and publisher Pierre Mariette II, (the grandfather of the renowned collector and connoisseur Pierre-Jean Mariette); the majority of the plates here bear his discreet ink signature on the versos, with dates (presumably of the year of acquisition) ranging from 1667 to 1693. Full red crushed red morocco by Chambolle-Duru, gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, housed in a later case (this defective).14 3/4 x 11 1/8 inches (38 x 28 cm); 1 f. manuscript biography of Van Dyke written in a late 18th-century French hand, 1 f. manuscript list of plates (inlaid to size), engraved title by Neefs after Van Dyck, and 108 etched portraits (each with tissue guard) after or by Van Dyck, those after variously etched or engraved by J. Neefs, P. Pontius, L. Vorsterman, A. Lommelin, S.A. Bolswert, R. van Vorst, P. De Jode, N. Lauwers, C. Galle, P. Clouwet, G. Hondius, W.J. Delphius, A. Stock, Koesterman, etc., mostly without the publisher's name. The 109th and final portrait contained here is that of Nicolaus Rockox engraved after Peter Paul Rubens by Paul Pontius, dated 1639 in the plate. Some light binding wear, joints a bit worn with a separation starting at the head of the rare, tears to the front free endpaper, modern ink inscription on a blank at the front, the plates exceptionally clean and fresh, a few very minor and discreet restorations noted to the margins here and there, old ink leaf numbers in upper right margins.

This set of Van Dyck's portraits appears to have been prepared over some years for the personal collection of Pierre Mariette fils (1634–1716), who, from his shop in the ruë St Jacques, was the preeminent publisher of prints in 17th-century France. The British Museum, which has extensive holdings of works with this provenance, states "The signature 'PMariette' seen on the versos of numerous prints is almost always of the younger Pierre." The second generation of a printselling dynasty, he would have had at his disposal the best impressions then available, as is witnessed by the quality of the prints contained in the present collection. The watermarks here vary from print to print, though many of them are on paper with the mark of a fool's cap with a 7-pointed collar, associated with later states by Hollstein et al. Towards the end of this copy are eleven of the plates identified as being etched by Van Dyck himself ("Adr. van Dyck fecit aqua forti"). These include the superb pair of portraits of Petrus and Joannes Bruegel, the unfinished portrait of Erasmus etc.

With this suite, first published without the title in 1635-1636, and later issued with the title page in various forms from 1645 on, Van Dyck elevated portrait etching to its pinnacle. Hind writes of the artist "Sir Anthony Van Dyck stands out as the solitary great etcher of the school. Portrait etching had scarcely had an existence before his time, and in his work it suddenly appears at the highest point ever reached in the art" (Hind, p. 165). Most of the subjects, as is indicated by the title of the work, are of fellow artists, or else collectors, patrons, or connoisseurs. "The plan of this publication took shape after Van Dyck returned from Italy (1626) and before he went to England (1632). He made careful preparatory drawings in chalk and brush for the publication. He directed and revised the work of the engravers, the best of the Rubens circle; he collaborated with his etching needle in some of the plates and himself etched the most beautiful set, mainly portraits of artists. One of the most brilliant in human characterization is the portrait of Peter Brueghel the Younger, son of the great Peasant Brueghel. It is remarkable that the etching appeared in this sketchy form in the book, proving that the master regarded it as finished. All interest is focused on the wonderful head. The first edition was published in Antwerp in 1635-1636. Yet it was not complete, and the title-page did not appear before the Gillis Hendricx edition of 1645, engraved by Jacob Neels" (Benesch, Artistic and Intellectual Trends, p. 32.)

Hofer Baroque Book Illustrations 132.
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