Bremen, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, ms

Lambert de Vos (''fl'' 1563 - 1574) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman from

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

who travelled to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

to work for the diplomatic mission of the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

.Lambert de Vos
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

Here he made a number of drawings of the various local costumes and some of the architectural sights. His drawings serve as an important source of information on the dress of people living in the Turkish empire and the architecture of Constantinople during his residence.Thomas Elsmann, edited by Maria Hermes-Wladarsch, ''Das Kostümbuch des Lambert de Vos (msor 009''
at the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen
/ref>

Life

Very little is known about the life of de Vos. He was likely born in

where he was first admitted to the local

Guild of St. Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...

in the year 1563. As it was common to become a master at the age of 25, he was likely born around 1538.Paul Huvenne, ''Lambert de Vos uit de vergeethoek'', in: Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten te Antwerpen, 1978, pp. 7-24 Lambert de Vos - Wedding procession

In 1572 he travelled to Constantinople where he was active in the circle of diplomats and envoys of the

. It is recorded that he made in 1574 a ''Costume Book'' for Karel Rijm, Emperor Maximilian II's ambassador to the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire. History The nam ...

, the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Not much is known about the remainder of the life and work of the artist. He was recorded again as a master in the Mechelen

in the year 1573.

The Costume Book of 1574

The Costume Book of 1574 is in the manuscript collection (ms. Or. 9 (1574)) of the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen (State and University Library of Bremen) in Germany. The book comprises 124 sheets, 103 of which are numbered. A Genoese paper was used, which was smoothed in an oriental manner, giving it a silky sheen. Four sections can be distinguished in the work: the Sultan and his courtiers, Ottoman men and clergy, Ottoman women and ethnic and religious minorities. Lambert de Vos has sketched the fashion and social hierarchy among the Ottomans in vivid colours. The Costume Book of 1574 is usually associated with two illustrations: the portrait of Sultan

Selim II Selim II ( Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى ''Selīm-i sānī'', tr, II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond ( tr, Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunk ( tr, Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire ...

and a long bridal train drawn over several leaves. The first 50 pages portray the sultan's ceremonial procession with 95 men some on horseback, including Sultan Selim II. This was a ritual procession that wound its way through the streets of Constantinople and represented the Empire's hierarchy.''The Costume Book of Lambert de Vos''
at Ziereis Facsimiles Under Selim II's predecessor,

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ� ...

, this procession had become a grand pageant that represented the splendor of the Empire at its zenith, as shown in a print dated 1553 made after a drawing by the Flemish artist

Pieter Coecke van Aelst Pieter Coecke van Aelst or Pieter Coecke van Aelst the Elder ( Aalst, 14 August 1502 – Brussels, 6 December 1550) was a Flemish painter, sculptor, architect, author and designer of woodcuts, goldsmith's work, stained glass and tapestries.

who had visited Constantinople in 1533. Bremen, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, ms

The 'Turkish costume book' became a well-known genre in Western art starting from the 16th century. Pieter Coecke van Aelst's widow

Mayken Verhulst Mayken Verhulst (1518–1596 or 1599), also known as Marie Bessemers,Greer, p. 26. was a sixteenth-century miniature, tempera and watercolor painter, identified by Lodovico Guicciardini in 1567 as one of the four most important female artists in ...

published a nearly five-metre-long monumental frieze entitled ''Ces Moeurs et fachons de faire de Turcz'' (Customs and Fashions of the Turks), which records the artist's impressions collected during his journey to Constantinople which he made in 1533 as part of the retinue of the Habsburg diplomat

Cornelis de Schepper Cornelis de Schepper, Cornelis Duplicius de Schepper or Cornelius de Schepper (1503?-1555) was a Flemish mathematician, counselor and ambassador for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Ferdinand I of Austria and Mary of Hungary, governor of the Nethe ...

. The French geographer and courtier

Nicolas de Nicolay Nicolas de Nicolay, Sieur d'Arfeville & de Belair, (1517–1583) of the Nicolay (family) was a French geographer. Biography Born at la Grave in Oisans, in the Dauphiné, he left France in 1542 to participate in the siege of Perpignan which was t ...

followed with hi
''Quatre premiers livres des navigations''
(''Four first book of travels'') published in 1567, which recorded de Nicolay's observations about the Ottoman court and peoples from his 1551 mission to Constantinopel. The text was illustrated with 60 images engraved after original drawings by de Nicolay. These early examples of costume books were followed by others. About 120 costume books or portions of them are currently known in manuscript, in addition to a large number of prints. With the rise of the Ottoman Empire both militarily and politically, the European nations had an interest in learning how to deal with this new power. This created an interest in pictorial representations of Turkish people which gave an impetus to the genre of the Turkish costume book. These depictions familiarized Europeans with the exotic ways of the Turks and gave them clues to how Ottoman society worked.
facsimile copy with notes at the Gennadius Library Not only did they serve as guides for diplomats and other visitors to the Sultan's court, but they also satisfied the curiosity and quelled the fear that westerners felt for the Ottomans. These costume books were also meant to entertain the European audiences for which they were intended.William Kynan-Wilson, ''Play and Performance in Ottoman Costume Albums'', in: Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet (ed.), 'Entertainment Among the Ottomans', BRILL, 2019, pp. 62–89 Cambridge, Trinity College, ms

Amateur and professional artists aimed to satisfy the demand for such representations.

Lambert Wyts Lambert Wyts or Lambert Wijts (1542 – ?) was a Flemish courtier, draughtsman and diarist. Born into a prominent family in the County of Flanders he became a courtier in the service of the Habsburg dynasty. In this role, he made three dip ...

was a Flemish courtier who left a diary (kept at the

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vi ...

) of his 1572 voyage to Constantinople which contains a series of drawings in the nature of those found in a costume book. His work has sometimes been confused with that of de Vos.M. Gachard , ''I. Notice des manuscrits concernant l'histoire de la Belgique qui existent à la Bibliothèque impériale, à Vienne''
Bulletin de la Commission royale d'Histoire Année 1863 5 pp. 235-390 In the beginning, most artists were European but from the 18th century such costume books were also produced by local artists in response to the demand for such illustrated publications. The

Gennadius Library The Gennadius Library ( el, Γεννάδειος Βιβλιοθήκη), also known as the Gennadeion, is one of the most important libraries in Greece, with over 110,000 volumes on Greek history, literature and art from Antiquity until modern tim ...

in Athens has a copy of a Costume Book (MS A. 986), which is attributed to de Vos or his workshop. Another copy of the book is kept in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (1590, ''Moeurs et costumes des Pays Orientaux'', Département des Estampes, OD. 2).Lambert de Vos, ''Moeurs et costumes des Pays Orientaux''
facsimile copy at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, PETFOL-OD-2 The manuscripts differ in quality as well as in the number, order and coloring of the images and they probably constitute different versions of the drawings. The Stammbuch Kurfürst Augusts (Family album of Elector Augustus) in the

Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden The Kupferstich-Kabinett (English: Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs) is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen (State Art Collections) of Dresden, Germany. Since 2004 it has been located in Dresden Castle.Monica Juneja and Petra Kuhlmann-Hodick ((Editors), ''Miniatur Geschichten Die Sammlung Indischer Malerei Im Dresdner Kupferstich-Kabinett Herausgegeben Von Den Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden Eine Ausstellung Des Kupferstich-Kabinetts Sandstein Verlag''
Sandstein Verlag. 2017, p. 127

The Freshfield Album

An anonymous manuscript in the

Wren Library The Wren Library is the library of Trinity College in Cambridge. It was designed by Christopher Wren in 1676 and completed in 1695. Description The library is a single large room built over an open colonnade on the ground floor of Nevile' ...

at Trinity College in Cambridge (ms. O.17.2) referred to as the Freshfield Album has been attributed to de Vos. The attribution to de Vos is based on is stylistic affinity with the drawings in the Costume Book of 1574 and on the dating (some sheets bear the date 1574, the same date as the 'Costume Book'). The album consists of a simple gathering of folio sheets sewn into a plain vellum wrapper. It contains 21 water colours that depict the architecture of Constantinople.''Views of Constantinople: The Freshfield Album online''
at Trinity College Library, Cambridge, Treasures from the Collection The drawings are so detailed that it is possible that they were meant to serve as designs for copperplate engravings, but no evidence has yet been found that the drawings were thus reproduced in print. It was likely that the drawings were intended to accompany the Costume Book. There are also two drawings of young rhinoceroses from Abyssinia (Ethiopia). These animals were likely destined for the menagerie of the Sultan. While later than

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

's famous woodcut of 1515, these images are among the earliest European depictions of the rhinoceros. Nine of the pictures depict columns that do not fit a single page and therefore have folded sheets attached to extend them. Some of the drawings are accompanied by notes based on the publication ''De topographia Constantinopoleos'' of French topographer

Pierre Gilles Petrus Gyllius or Gillius (or Pierre Gilles) (1490–1555) was a French natural scientist, topographer and translator. Gilles was born in Albi, southern France. A great traveller, he studied the Mediterranean and Orient, producing such works as ...

, first printed in 1561. Thanks to its panoramas and detailed rendering, the Freshfield Album is an important source of topographical and historical information. It has allowed, among other things, a full understanding of the narrative content of the

Column of Arcadius The column of Arcadius ( tr, Arkadyos Sütunu or ''Avrat Taşı'') was a Roman triumphal column in the forum of Arcadius in Constantinople built in the early 5th century AD. The marble column was historiated with a spiralling frieze of reliefs on ...

, of which now only the base remains.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vos, Lambert de Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Flemish artists (before 1830) Painters from Mechelen Artists from Mechelen