Edouard Bernard DEBAT-PONSAN

By the Fireside

c. 1885

Jan Goeree (Middelburg 1670 – Amsterdam 1731) Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam (c. 1724) Red chalk for the architecture, pen and black ink, grey wash on paper Composition reversed in preparation for engraving 25 × 17.5 cm Watermark: Hunting horn, Churchill 318 (dated 1724) Provenance Private collection, France Context & Attribution Trained in the studio of Gérard de Lairesse, Jan Goeree was among the finest Dutch engravers of the early eighteenth century, celebrated for his architectural views of Amsterdam. This drawing is a preparatory study for an engraving of the same subject now preserved in a major public collection. The final print—slightly larger—closely follows the reversed composition of this sheet. Subject In the center of the Gothic nave, five bearers carry a catafalque toward a freshly dug grave—a tribute to the naval heroes often buried in the Nieuwe Kerk. This funerary motif, familiar from Dutch painting (e.g. Emanuel de Witte, 1657), evokes the vanitas theme and the transience of earthly life. Technical Analysis Goeree’s use of red chalk for the architecture and ink for the figures reveals his working method: the chalk lines could be used to produce a counterproof restoring the correct orientation of the architecture, while the inked figures remained adjustable before the design was transferred to the copper plate. Place within the Oeuvre Drawings of church...

Georg Philipp I RUGENDAS (1666-1742) Frederick I of Prussia Red chalk, ink and brown wash on paper 45x42 cm This drawing has been long considered representative of Charles VI. In r...

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A sensitively drawn and highly-detailed study for a three-panel set of stained glass windows showing the ascension of Jesus by angels and mortals. Initialed, lower right, 'EB-J', an...