Everhard or Eberhard Jabach (10 July 1618 – 9 March 1695) was a French businessman, art collector and director of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...

. He was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

but later naturalised as a French subject.

Life

His father had expanded the family fortune and founded a bank in Antwerp, then in the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

. Everhard himself settled in France in 1638 and was naturalised as a French subject in 1647. In 1648 he married Anna Maria de Groote in Cologne – she was a daughter of one of the city's senators and he had four children with her.

Francis Haskell Francis James Herbert Haskell, (7 April 1928 – 18 January 2000) was an English art historian, whose writings placed emphasis on the social history of art. He wrote one of the first and most influential patronage studies, ''Patrons and Painte ...

called him "an opulent banker", associated with a trading company based in Amsterdam and one of the directors of the French East India Company, managing the 'factory' at Corbeil. In 1671 his fortune was valued at 2 million livres. Now lost, his town house or '

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a s ...

' was on rue Neuve-Saint-Merri – he put on plays there, whose audiences included

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

, before it became the base of the "Caisse Jabach" Comptoir commercial.

Jabach collections

Jabach is most notable as a famous collector of drawings, paintings, sculptures, objets d'art, bronzes and prints by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

, the Caracci brothers, Rubens,

Paul Bril Paul Bril (1554 – 7 October 1626) was a Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 September 2016 He spent most of ...

, Durer, Le Brun and

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

. They came from the Ludovisi collection in Italy, from the sales in the Netherlands of the collections of the Earl of Arundel after the death of his widow in 1654, and those in London of

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

in 1650–1653, from other collections in Germany and from the dispersal of Rubens' estate. Some of his drawings originated in

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

's noted '' Libro de' Disegni'' portfolio. In 1661–62 and 1671 he ceded much of his collection to

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

– a total of 5,000 drawings in the second sale, now in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

's Cabinet des dessins. In 1741

Pierre-Jean Mariette Pierre-Jean Mariette (7 May 1694 – 10 September 1774) was a collector of and dealer in old master prints, a renowned connoisseur, especially of prints and drawings, and a chronicler of the careers of French Italian and Flemish artists. He wa ...

stated that "in selling the King his paintings and drawings, abachheld back some of the drawings, and certainly not the least beautiful ones". At his death he left another collection of 4,000 drawings in 26 portfolios – an inventory of them was made after his death and published in 2002 by the Louvre's département des Arts graphiques. In 2013 one aspect of Jabach's collection was the subject of an exhibition at the Louvre called "A German at the Court of Louis XIV; From Dürer to Van Dyck: the Everhard Jabach collection of Northern Art". His portrait was painted by several notable artists of the time, including Rigaud in 1688 and Anthony van Dyck in 1636-37 (now in the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

), whilst he commissioned a group portrait of his family and his collection from Charles LeBrun (since 2014

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, a 2nd version having been lost in Berlin in WW2). He also acted as agent for

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

in the dispersal in London of the collection of Charles I, in competition with the French ambassador acting for the king. Most of these paintings also reached the French royal collection after the cardinal's death. Jabach used agents in London, especially a French merchant called Oudancour. Jabach's purchases totalled over twenty paintings, of extremely high quality, with the representatives of the King of Spain and the Emperor the main other competing buyers.Brotton, 298-299

Selected works from his collection

* Bronzino, '' Portrait of a Sculptor'' (now National Gallery, London) * Caravaggio, '' The Death of the Virgin'' (now Louvre) *

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

, '' Allegory of Vice'' and '' Allegory of Virtue'', from

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

's studiolo in Mantua (both now

) * Durer, the Jabach Altarpiece (main panel lost; side panels in Wallraf-Richartz Museum and

Städel Museum The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

) *

van Eyck Van Eyck or Van Eijk () is a Dutch toponymic surname. ''Eijck'', ''Eyck'', ''Eyk'' and ''Eijk'' are all archaic spellings of modern Dutch ("oak") and the surname literally translates as "from/of oak". However, in most cases, the family name refers ...

, ''

Dresden Triptych The ''Dresden Triptych'' (or ''Virgin and Child with St. Michael and St. Catherine and a Donor'', or ''Triptych of the Virgin and Child'') is a very small hinged-triptych altarpiece by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. It consists ...

'' (now

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (, ''Old Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch and Flemish paintings. Outstand ...

) *

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...

, '' St. John the Baptist'' (now Louvre) * Gentileschi, ''Rest on the Flight into Egypt'' (now Louvre) *

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...

, ''The Entombment'' (now

) * Titian, '' Man with a Glove'' (now Louvre) * Titian, ''Conjugal Allegory'' (now Louvre) * Titian or Giorgione, ''

Pastoral Concert The ''Pastoral Concert'' or ''Le Concert Champêtre'' is an oil painting of c. 1509 attributed to the Italian Renaissance master Titian. It was previously attributed to his fellow Venetian and contemporary Giorgione. It is now in the Musée du ...

'' (now Louvre)

Bibliography

Brotton, Jerry Jerry Brotton is a British historian. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London, a television and radio presenter and a curator. Brotton writes about literature, history, material culture, trade, and east-west rel ...

, ''The Sale of the Late King's Goods: Charles I and His Art Collection'', 2007, Pan Macmillan, * Antoine Schnapper, ''Curieux du Grand Siècle'', Flammarion, 1994 * C. Monbeig-Goguel, « Taste and Trade: The Retouched Drawings in the Everhard Jabach Collection at the Louvre », ''The Burlington Magazine'', 1988 * ''Collections de Louis XIV'', Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, 7 octobre 1977 – 9 janvier 1978, p. 10-20 du catalogue qui reproduit un portrait de Jabach dessiné par Le Brun, et son paraphe * ''L'honneur de la curiosité – de Dürer à Poussin, dessins de la seconde collection Jabach'', musée du Louvre, février – avril 2002, catalogue * Philippe Dagen, « De Dürer à Poussin, de merveilleux dessins », ''Le Monde'', 2 février 2002, article non signé ; « Curieux et passionné », ''Le Monde'', 22 février 2002 * http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/626692

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jabach, Everhard French bankers French art collectors German emigrants to France Businesspeople from Cologne 1618 births 1695 deaths