Bernard Picart or Picard (11 June 1673 – 8 May 1733), was a French draughtsman, engraver, and book illustrator in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, who showed an interest in cultural and religious habits.

Life

Picart was born in rue Saint-Jacques, Paris as son of Etienne Picart, a famous engraver. In 1689, he studied drawing and architecture at the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abol ...

. He was taught by

Charles le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist ...

, along with Benoît Audran the Elder,

Sébastien Leclerc Sébastien Leclerc or Le Clerc ( aptized26 September 1637— 25 October 1714) was a French artist from the Duchy of Lorraine. He specialized in subtle reproductive drawings, etchings, and engravings of paintings; and worked mostly in Paris, wh ...

and Antoine Coypel. In 1696 he wintered in Antwerp, where he was well-received. He stayed in Amsterdam for more than a year and had commissions before returning to France at the end of 1698.Grove Art, accessed 26 May 2007
/ref> He took over his father's workshop. After his wife, Cloudina Pros, the daughter of a bookseller, and their children died, he settled in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

together with Prosper Marchand in January 1710. There Picart, Marchand and Charles Levier belonged to a "radical Huguenot coterie", who studied the works of John Locke, which promoted the separation of

church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...

. They joined the Walloon church but were influenced by Jean Claude and Pierre Bayle who both fled to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

in earlier years.De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680-1725. Deel 4. Gegevens over de vervaardigers, hun internationale relaties en de uitgaven N-W, papierhandel, drukkerijen en boekverkopers in het algemeen (1967)–Isabella Henriëtte van Eeghen
/ref> Picart accepted a commission to draw prints for the Bible.De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680-1725. Deel 4. Gegevens over de vervaardigers, hun internationale relaties en de uitgaven N-W, papierhandel, drukkerijen en boekverkopers in het algemeen (1967)–Isabella Henriëtte van Eeghen
/ref> He and Marchand moved to Amsterdam in 1711 (later being joined by his father Étienne Picart (le Romain). In April 1712 he married Anna Vincent (1684–1736) in Haarlem, the marriage was assisted by her father Ysbrand Vincent (1642–1718) who had initially disagreed with the marriage. Ysbrand was a rich paper seller, who moved to France but fled in 1686. From 1702 on, he was editor of playwrights written by himself or the other members of Nil volentibus arduum.De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680-1725. Deel 4. Gegevens over de vervaardigers, hun internationale relaties en de uitgaven N-W, papierhandel, drukkerijen en boekverkopers in het algemeen (1967)–Isabella Henriëtte van Eeghen
/ref> Levinus Vincent became his uncle, a

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...

who owned a cabinet of curiosities in Haarlem. Picart moved in with his father-in-law and designed several

book frontispiece A frontispiece in books is a decorative or informative illustration facing a book's title page—on the left-hand, or verso, page opposite the right-hand, or recto, page. In some ancient editions or in modern luxury editions the frontispiece fe ...

s. In May 1713 the couple had male twins, who both died within a few weeks; he portrayed them both. Picart became a

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

, joined the guild and published a book about his teacher Charles Le Brun.De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680-1725. Deel 4. Gegevens over de vervaardigers, hun internationale relaties en de uitgaven N-W, papierhandel, drukkerijen en boekverkopers in het algemeen (1967)–Isabella Henriëtte van Eeghen
/ref> His three daughters were baptized in Westerkerk. Picart may have had a better understanding of the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. '' Afrikaan ...

. In 1711 he collaborated with

Cornelis de Bruyn Cornelis de Bruijn or Cornelius de Bruyn (; 16521726/7), also formerly known in English by his French name Corneille Le Brun, was a Dutch artist and traveler. He made two large tours and published illustrated books with his observations of peopl ...

on the frontispiece of ''Reizen over Moskovie, door Persie en Indie'', published in 1718 as ''Voyages de Corneille le Brun par la Moscovie, en Perse, et aux Indes Occidentales''. In 1724, he worked with Philipp von Stosch, a Prussian antiquarian, whose ''Gemmæ Antiquæ Cælatæ (Pierres antiques graveés)'', Picart's engravings reproduced 70 antique carved hardstones such as

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

, jasper and

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often use ...

from European collections, a volume of inestimable value to antiquarians and historians. His most famous work is ''Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde'', appearing from 1723 to 1743 and in collaboration with Jean Frédéric Bernard, a successful author and publisher who promoted religious tolerance and gallicanism. Between 1733–1736 Bernard published a book about

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs an ...

with engravings by Picart. Because of the many prints it also seems he sympathized with Jansenists, the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

and Collegiants. In 1728 ''Les Césars de l'empereur Julien, traduits du grec par feu Mr. le Baron de Spanheim, avec des remarques & des preuves, enrichies de plus de 300 médailles, & autres anciens monumens, gravés par Bernard Picart le Romain'' was published. In 1729 he collaborated with Louis Fabricius Dubourg. At some time (1718?) Picart opened an engraving school. His pupils included

Jacob Folkema Jacob Folkema (18 August 1692 – 3 February 1767), a Dutch designer and engraver, was born and died at Dokkum, in Friesland. He was first instructed by his father, Johann Jakob Folkema, a goldsmith, and studied afterwards under B. Picart at Amster ...

Jakob van der Schley Jakob van der Schley aka Jakob van Schley (26 July 1715 Amsterdam – 7 February 1779 Amsterdam) was a Dutch draughtsman and engraver. He studied under Bernard Picart (1673-1733) whose style he subsequently copied. His main interests were engravin ...

(who portrayed him posthumously),

Pieter Tanjé Pieter Tanjé (1706–1761) was an 18th-century engraver from the Northern Netherlands. Biography Tanjé was born in Bolsward. According to the RKD he was a shipmate for the shipping service between Bolsward and Amsterdam who engraved designs ...

and

François Morellon la Cave François Morellon la Cave (15 April 1696 – 9 July 1768) was a painter and engraver of French origin active in Amsterdam. Life Morellon la Cave had Huguenot origins and settled in The Hague. His brother Jean was a silversmith. In 1722 h ...

, who all used his drawings for engravings. According to RKD, Johann Philipp Endelich (?–1760) was also a pupil. In 1723/1726 Anna Yver, his mother-in-law and two of her children lived at Rokin; Picart may have used most floors for drawing or engraving and storing paper. In 1731 he published a reprint originally by his father (Le Romain).De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680-1725. Deel 4. Gegevens over de vervaardigers, hun internationale relaties en de uitgaven N-W, papierhandel, drukkerijen en boekverkopers in het algemeen (1967)–Isabella Henriëtte van Eeghen
/ref> Picart was buried in the

Walloon Church, Amsterdam The Walloon Church ( Dutch: ''Waalse Kerk''; French: ''Église Wallonne'') is a Protestant church building in Amsterdam, along the southern stretch of the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal. The building dates to the late 15th century and has bee ...

on 13 May 1733. After his death the widow ordered her three daughters to keep his collection of drawings together but sell the prints at an auction and the copperplates in Paris.De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680-1725. Deel 4. Gegevens over de vervaardigers, hun internationale relaties en de uitgaven N-W, papierhandel, drukkerijen en boekverkopers in het algemeen (1967)–Isabella Henriëtte van Eeghen
/ref> In 1734 she published ''Impostures innocentes, ou recueil d'estampes d'après divers peintres illustres tels que Raphaël, Le Guide, Carlo Maratta, Le Poussin, Rembrandt, etc., gravées à leur imitation et selon le goût particulier de chacun d'eux, et accompagnées d'un discours sur les préjugés de certains curieux touchant la gravure, par Bernard Picart, dessinateur et graveur, avec son éloge historique et le catalogue de ses ouvrages, Veuve de Bernard Picart, Amsterdam.'' The inventory (on 12 March 1736) mentioned around 400 portfolios with copperplates, books, drawings, paper, 54 paintings (not specified), jewellery and bonds. The website of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has more than 2,000 works online by Bernard Picart.

Works

Most of his work was book-illustrations, for which he collaborated with local artists like Gerard Hoet and Arnold Houbraken. The illustrations were used in various publications including the '' Figures de la Bible'' (1720) and the '' Taferelen der voornaamste geschiedenissen van het Oude en Nieuwe Testament'' (1728). The latter was a picture bible comprising 214 large engravings of which

Gilliam van der Gouwen Gilliam van der Gouwen, first name also transcribed as Guilliam and Willem (ca. 1657, Antwerp — buried on 15 March 1716, Amsterdam)P. van der Coelen, ''De ontstaansgeschiedenis van de prentenbijbel van Hoet, Houbraken en Picart''
in: E. Buijsen e.a. (red.), Kunst op papier in de achttiende eeuw/Art on Paper in the Eighteenth Century. Liber Amicorum aangeboden aan Charles Dumas ter gelegenheid van zijn 65ste verjaardag, Zoetermeer 2014, p. 48-61; p. 51 From 1720 Picart collaborated on the ''Cérémonies'' with the son of a Protestant minister , with a commitment to religious toleration. Jonathan I. Israel calls ''Cérémonies'' "an immense effort to record the religious rituals and beliefs of the world in all their diversity as objectively and authentically as possible". Although Picart had never left Europe, he relied on accounts by those who had and had access to a collection of Indian sculpture. The original French edition of ''Cérémonies'' comprises ten volumes of text and 266 engravings.

"Cérémonies" engravings

* Vol. 1: Asie, Afrique and Amérique – 30 engravings (1727) * Vol. 2 – 33 engravings (1727) * Vol. 3 – 19 engravings (1728) * Vol. 4 – 14 engravings (1729) * Vol. 5 – 26 engravings (1736) * Vol. 6 – 45 engravings (1738) * Vol. 7 – 58 engravings * Vol. 8 – 5 engravings * Vol. 9 – 24 engravings * Vol. 10 – 12 engravings

The Temple of the Muses

This was an illustrated book of Ovid's Metamorphoses more popular fables published in 1733 in Dutch (''Tempel der zanggodinnen, vertoond in LX heerlijke kunststukken, behelzende alle de voornaemste geschiedenissen van de Fabel-Oudheid''), in 1738 in English (''The Temple of the Muses, or, the principal histories of fabulous antiquity''), and in 1742 in French (''Le Temple des Muses, orné de LX tableaux où sont représentés les événemens les plus remarquables de l'antiquité fabuleuse''), by Zacharias Chatelain. The engravings had captions in French, English, German, and Dutch. The artists involved were

Michel de Marolles Michel de Marolles (22 July 1600, Genillé - 6 March 1681, Paris), known as the abbé de Marolles, was a French churchman and translator, known for his collection of old master prints An old master print is a work of art produced by a printi ...

, Bernard Picart,

Jacques Favereau Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ov ...

Abraham van Diepenbeeck Abraham van Diepenbeeck (9 May 1596 (baptised) – between May and September 1675) was Dutch painter of the Flemish School. Biography Van Diepenbeeck was baptised in 's-Hertogenbosch. After having received a classical education, he became ...

, and Cornelis Bloemaert. A facsimile of the Dutch version was published in 1968.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Grafton, Anthony Anthony Thomas Grafton (born May 21, 1950) is an American historian of early modern Europe and the Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, where he is also the Director the Program in European Cultural Studies. He i ...

. "A Jewel of a Thousand Facets." ''

New York Review of Books New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

'' (June 10, 2010) Vol. LVII, number 11. Page 38–40
Online summary
* Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacob and Wijnand Mijnhardt (2010) ''The Book That Changed Europe: Picart and Bernard's "Religious Ceremonies of the World"'' (Harvard University Press). * Hunt, Lynn and Margaret Jacob and Wijnand Mijnhardt (2010). Bernard Picart and the First Global Vision of Religion. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institutebr>
*Wyss-Giacosa, Paola von (2006). ''Religionsbilder der frühen Aufklärung : Bernard Picarts Tafeln für die Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde''. Wabern (Switzerland): Benteli, 2006. See also Margaret Jacob, 'The Radical Enlightenment' (London:George Allen & Unwin, 1981). *

Israel, Jonathan I. Jonathan Irvine Israel (born 26 January 1946) is a British writer and academic specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies ...

(2001) ''Radical enlightenment: philosophy and the making of modernity, 1650–1750''. Oxford University Press. *Jacob, Margaret (2005) ''Bernard Picart and the Turn to Modernity'', De Achttiende eeuw, vol. 37, 2005, pp. 1–16.

External links

Bernard Picart and Jean Frederic Bernard'
''Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the World''
on

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Picart, Bernard 1673 births 1733 deaths Converts to Protestantism Artists from Paris French printmakers French engravers