Allegorisch portret van Francis van Bossuit, RP-P-OB-65

Francis van Bossuit (probably

1635 Events January–March * January 23 – 1635 Capture of Tortuga: The Spanish Navy captures the Caribbean island of Tortuga off of the coast of Haiti after a three-day battle against the English and French Navy. * January 25 ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

- 22 September,

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 ...

) was a Flemish sculptor.Margreet van der Hut, ''Het Beeld-snyders Kunst-kabinet: Francis van Bossuit en het Hollands Classicisme''
The Hague, autumn 2014 He mainly carved sculptures in ivory. Only a few sculptures in wood and terracotta by his hand are known.Francis van Bossuit
on the RKD His work shows a penchant for classicism which was probably derived from his exposure to ancient and contemporary Italian art during his stay in Rome as well as his knowledge of the Baroque classicism of the sculptors active in Versailles. The exuberance of some of his works also reflects his training in Flemish Baroque sculpture.Cynthia Lawrence, ''Bossuit, Frans van (b Brussels, 1635; d Amsterdam, Sept 22, 1692)''
on Grove Art Online

Life

There is little documentary information about van Bossuit's life. In 1727,

Matthys Pool Matthijs Pool (1676–1740)Matthijs Pool
in the

Christian Theuerkauff, ''Zu Francis van Bossuit (1635-1692), "Beeldsnyder in Yvoor"''
Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch Vol. 37 (1975), Freunde des Wallraf-Richartz-Museum und des Museum Ludwig e.V., pp. 119-182 The majority of the engravings were made by Matthys Pool from drawings by his father-in-law, the painter Barend Graat. The book contains a biography of van Bossuit based on information from Graat, who knew van Bossuit since his arrival in Amsterdam. Most of the information we have on van Bossuit can be traced back to this biographical note. It is not certain that this information is always correct. Francis van Bossuit - Susanna and the Elders (cropped)

Francis van Bossuit - Susanna and the Elders (cropped)

Van Bossuit was probably born in Brussels in 1635. No evidence of his birth has been found in the archives of this city. It is also possible that 1635 was not the year of his birth but the year in which he began his apprenticeship in Brussels. If he started his apprenticeship in 1635, he was probably born around 1620. According to older sources, he worked in Antwerp during the years 1645–1650. Dame met luit, BK-NM-2933

He left for Italy probably in the hope of being appointed to one of the courts, where there was traditionally a great deal of interest in ivory carving. The Medici in Florence, for example, had a large collection of ivory carvings. It is assumed that this is why he first went to Florence, where, probably in the mid-1650s, he would have been in contact at the Academy of Florence with the German sculptor

Balthasar Permoser Balthasar Permoser (13 August 1651 – 18 February 1732) was among the leading sculptors of his generation, whose evolving working styles spanned the late Baroque and early Rococo. Permoser was born in Kammer bei Waging, Salzburg, today a ...

. He may have worked in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

in the mid-1650s. This hypothesis is probably based on the presence of two of his early works in the

Galleria Estense The Galleria Estense is an art gallery in the heart of Modena, centred around the collection of the d’Este family: rulers of Modena, Ferrara and Reggio from 1289 to 1796. Located on the top floor of the ''Palazzo dei Musei'', on the St. Augusti ...

. He is believed to have resided in Rome between about 1655 and 1680. It is assumed that he associated himself mainly with the circle of students of the Florentine academy. The ''Cabinet of the Art of Sculpture'' mentions that in Rome he became a member of

Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which included ...

, an association of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists working in Rome. It was customary for the Bentvueghels to adopt an attractive nickname. Van Bossuit is said to have adopted the nickname "Waarnemer" (Observer), because he "observed the beautiful pieces and made them his own". However, this name does not appear on the lists of Bentveughels' nicknames currently known. During his residence in Rome he is said to have made many copies of antique statues. Around 1680 he left Rome and traveled in the company of the Dutch painter

Bonaventura van Overbeke Bonaventura van Overbeek (1660–1705) was a Dutch Golden Age draughtsman and engraver. Biography Overbeek was born and died in Amsterdam. According to Houbraken, he drew the Roman ruins from life and, while in Rome, he joined the Bentvueg ...

. He settled in

where he seems to have been in contact with the young sculptor Johannes Ebbelaer (c. 1666–1706). Two auction catalogues mention sculptures begun by van Bossuit and completed by Ebbelaer. Ebbelaer also left in his will a "statue of Mars and a statue of Christ, made by the late Mr Francis and a sculpted statuette of Atlas". Van Bossuit's small collectable reliefs in ivory were much sought after by private collectors in the Dutch Republic. Dutch collectors Petronella de la Court and her husband Adam Oortmans owned about ten other ivories by van Bossuit. Oortmans may even have studied ivory sculpture under van Bossuit.Francis van Bossuit, ''Susanna and the Elders''
at the

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views over ...

Van Bossuit remained in Amsterdam until his death on 22 September 1692.

Work

The majority of his work consists of ivory sculptures, mainly small reliefs. He also produced works in wood and terracotta, of which only a few examples remain. His themes are biblical stories, mythological scenes, history, allegories and portraiture. Francis van Bossuit - Mercury, Io and Argus

Francis van Bossuit - Mercury, Io and Argus

Nourished by his long stay in Italy, his work stands out for the infinite tenderness given to his subjects. It also shows a penchant for classicism, probably due to the exposure during his stay in Rome to ancient Italian art and contemporary sculptors such as the Flemish

François Duquesnoy François Duquesnoy or Frans Duquesnoy (12 January 1597 – 18 July 1643) was a Flanders, Flemish Baroque sculptor who was active in Rome for most of his career. His idealized representations are often contrasted with the more emotional character ...

and the Italian sculptors

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

and

Alessandro Algardi Alessandro Algardi (July 31, 1598 – June 10, 1654) was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome, where for the latter decades of his life, he was, along with Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona, one of the major ...

. It also shows he had absorbed the Baroque classicism of the sculptors active at Versailles. In the exuberance of some of his works, it also reflects his exposure to Flemish Baroque sculpture as practised by the Flemish sculptors

Artus Quellinus the Younger Artus Quellinus II or Artus Quellinus the Younger (alternative first name: Arnold; variation on family name: Quellijn, Quellyn, Quellien, Quellin, Quellinius) (between 10 and 20 November 1625, Sint-Truiden – 22 November 1700, Antwerp) was a ...

, and Rombout Verhulst who were active for a long time in Amsterdam where they carried out important projects. This dynamic exuberance can be seen in works such as ''Venus and Adonis''. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). Van Bossuit's small-scale sculptures introduced replicas and variations of famous masterpieces from Antiquity to Northern Europe. His ''Flora'' and ''Venus with Cupid'', for example, are based on important classical sculptures. His first reliefs executed in Italy, such as ''Mercury, Io and Argus'' (

Liebieghaus The Liebieghaus is a late 19th-century villa in Frankfurt, Germany. It contains a sculpture museum, the ''Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus'', which is part of the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen bank of the River Main. Max Hollein was the direc ...

, Frankfurt) and its pendant ''The Flaying of Marsyas'' ( Art Gallery of Ontario) were probably created while he was working in the vicinity of Balthasar Permoser, who created similar, but less finely sculpted works at about the same time in Italy. His ''Abduction of the Sabine Women'' (

, Frankfurt) is inspired by a work with the same subject by

Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...

( Capitoline Museums, Rome). His ''Judgement of Solomon'' is inspired by a fresco of da Cortona in the Palazzo Mattei in Rome. His later reliefs, such as the ''Allegory of Music'' (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), which is part of a series of allegories from sculpture and poetry, are monumentally designed and marked by a new sobriety. Francis van Bossuit (Attr

His works were popular with collectors of classicist cabinet sculptures and artists, who copied the sculptures and incorporated compositions and motifs into their paintings. Especially the engravings of his works, published in the "Cabinet of the Art of Sculpture" by Matthys Pool after drawings by Barend Graat served as models for artists until the 18th century. Graat probably started drawing after van Bossuit's sculptures in the 1680s. It seems likely that he was in direct contact with van Bossuit. The painter

Nicolaas Verkolje Nicolaas Verkolje (11 April 1673, Delft – 21 January 1746, Amsterdam), was a Dutch painter and mezzotint maker. Biography According to Houbraken he was the son of Jan Verkolje and the only one of 5 children to carry on his art.