Night View of a River with Fishermen (from Scenes of Bohemia)
ARTIST: Aegidius Sadeler II (Flemish, 1568 – 1629), after Pieter Stevens (Flemish, c. 1567 – after 1624)
DATE: c. 1610-15
TECHNIQUE: Engraving and etching
DIMENSIONS: Image: 37.2 x 23.8 cm, Platemark: 37.5 x 24.5 cm
STATE: I/III
INSCRIPTION: Lower right: “Egid. Sadeler Excud.”; lower left: “Petrus Stephani Invent.”
CATALOGUE REFERENCE: New Hollstein Dutch 251-1
PROVENANCE: Purchased from John Hull Brown
COLLECTOR’S MARK: Frederic Robert Halsey (Lugt 1308)
OBJECT NUMBER: 1977.092
Aegidius Sadeler II’s nocturnal riverscape is from a series of eight prints entitled Scenes in Bohemia, each featuring fantastical landscapes inspired by the Czech kingdom of Bohemia. This location was purposefully selected to reflect the terrain around Emperor Rudolf II’s (1552–1612) court in Prague where Sadeler, Bartholomaeus Spranger (1546–1611), and many other artists worked in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. One of these artists was Flemish painter Pieter Stevens, who designed the composition for this print, among others that Sadeler reproduced in engraving. Together, Sadeler and Stevens’ works played an important role in establishing the conventions of 17th-century Dutch landscape painting.
Although Sadeler was primarily known for his engraving work, it is possible that portions of this print were etched using a needle and acid to bite into the copper plate. Sadeler achieved the overall dark tonality by crosshatching and deepening the cut of his burin to hold more ink. This can be seen in the density of the shadowed tree on the left riverbank, its leaves backlit by the moonlight and overcast sky. The radiating light from lanterns held aloft by the fishermen draws the viewer’s eye to the laborers going about their nightly work. The men paddle their boats through the overgrown plants and under the arch of the large stone bridge.
This impression is likely the first of three known states, which are differentiated primarily by the inscriptions along the bottom. The second state adds the name Marco Sadeler on the bottom right, citing him as the publisher, but this addition is burnished away by the third state. The paper displays no watermark identifying the paper maker and no authentic seventeenth-century chain lines, which may suggest this is actually a later impression of the third state. The back is stamped with the collector’s mark of Frederic Robert Halsey (1847–1918), a trustee of the Public Library of New York and overseer of their print collection.
Written by Trevor Hopkins, edited by Simone Edgar Holmes
Bibliography
Lugt, Frits. “Halsey, Frederic Robert: L.1308.” Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d’Estampes. Accessed June 29, 2020. http://www.marquesdecollections.fr/detail.cfm/marque/7521/total/1.
Mulders, Christine van. “Sadeler family.” Grove Art Online. 2003; Accessed 8 Jul. 2020. https://www-oxfordartonline-com.ezproxy.middlebury.edu/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000074900.
Zwollo, An. “Stevens, Pieter.” Grove Art Online. 2003; Accessed 8 Jul. 2020. https://www-oxfordartonline-com.ezproxy.middlebury.edu/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000081384.
