Laurens Van Der Meulen

Laurens van der Meulen, also Laureys or Laurent van der Meulen, known in England as Laurence Vander Meulen (Mechelen, 1643 – Mechelen 1719), was a Flemish sculptor, painter and frame-maker who, after training in his native Mechelen, worked for some time in England.Laurent van der Meulen
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History He is best known there for having created the statue of King James II now in Trafalgar Square, together with the Flemish sculptor Peter van Dievoet, while working in the workshop of Grinling Gibbons.Horace Walpole, ''Anecdotes of painting in England: with some account of the principal artists; and incidental notes on other arts; collected by the late Mr. George Vertue; and now digested and published from his original MSS. by Mr. Horace Walpole'', London, 1765, vol. III, p. 91 : "Gibbons had several disciples and workmen; .. Dievot of Brussels, and Laurens of Mechlin were principal journeymen — Vertue says they modelled and cast the statue I have mentioned in the privy-garden". According to David Green, in ''Grinling Gibbons, his work as carver and statuary'' (London, 1964), one Smooke said to Vertue that this statue "''was modelled and made by Laurence and Devoot (sic)''"; George Vertue, ''Note Books'', ed. Walpole Society, Oxford, 1930–1947, vol. I, p. 82 : "Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys", and ''ibidem'' IV, 50: "Laurens a statuary of Mechlin ... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country". He is also known for his wood carvings of frames and medallions.Auguste Van Lokeren, ''Notice sur des cadres sculptés par Laurent Vandermeulen de Malines''
Messager des sciences historiques, 1836, pp. 54–61

Life

He was born in 1645 in Mechelen as the son of Pieter, originally from Erondegem, and Elisabeth Schuermans from Mechelen. At the time Mechelen was one of the prime centres of sculpture making in Flanders, next only to Antwerp. He started training as a sculptor in the workshop of Pieter van der Stock and was registered in the Mechelen Guild of Saint Luke on 10 November 1665.Laurent van der Meulen
in: Van der Aa e.a., Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden vol. 12, 2 (1869), p. 732 Pieter van der Stock had himself started his traineeship only five years earlier under Coenraet van Kerckhoven.Emmanuel Neeffs, Histoire de la peinture et de la sculpture à Malines, Gand, imprimerie E. Vanderhaegen, 1876, Volume 2, pp. 219–224

He travelled to England in 1675 where he joined the London workshop of the (Rotterdam-born) English sculptor Grinling Gibbons. Gibbons was mainly known as a sculptor for his fine carvings of floral motifs. Other experienced Flemish sculptors such as Arnold Quellin (the son of Artus Quellinus II), John Nost, Anthony Verhuke and Pieter van Dievoet also worked in Gibbon's London workshop as "servants", i.e. collaborators. As these Flemish artists were not trainees they were never entered in the Draper's records. In a document dated 1679 van der Meulen, Quellin and Verhuke are referred to as servants of Gibbons.David Esterly, ''Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving''
Harry N. Abrams, 30 April 2013, pp. 45, 176, 209, 219224

In the Gibbons workshop he worked on various commissions but the contributions of the various artists active in the workshop are not always identifiable. He is known to have collaborated with Peter van Dievoet on the creation of the statue of King James II during his stay in the workshop of Grinling Gibbons.

Van der Meulen returned in 1687 to his hometown and was admitted as a master sculptor of the Mechelen Guild of Saint Luke in 1689. He became a dean of the Guild in 1691. On 26 August 1691 (or possibly 31 January 1704)''Parenteel familie De Croes''
at Genealogie Rog(gh)eman(ns) he married Cornelia Theresia de Croes. His wife's sister Joanna Maria was married to the sculptor Jan Lucas Faydherbe, son of the prominent Mechelen sculptor Lucas Faydherbe, the King of Spain, is believed to have ordered a mirror frame representing the union of Spain and France from him. This work was ultimately not delivered to the King as the Southern Netherlands ultimately passed from Spanish to Austrian control as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession, which ended with the Peace of Utrecht.

Work

He died in Mechelen on 26 October 1719 and was buried in the St. Rumbold's Cathedral.
He sculpted statues and was active as a painter, but was mainly a creator of decorative sculptures such as picture and mirror frames, allegorical medallions, tables, etc. He decorated many churches and houses with his ornaments composed of garlands of finely chiseled flowers similar to the fine carvings of a goldsmith. In addition, he created religious statues of saints and the Virgin and some busts, as is attested by listings in various catalogues. He carved four bas-reliefs representing the four elements which were intended as chimney decorations.

He created in his decorative works complicated trophies, deeply carved and superimposed, with motifs of foliage, flowers, birds and crustaceans sometimes accompanied by putti. His execution of the human figure did not match the perfection of the still-life elements in these works. Some of his wood works were so subtly carved that the foliage and branches on the edges moved and quivered at the slightest movement.

He was paid to make the foliage decorations on the columns of the main altar of the Church of Our Lady across the river Dijle in Mechelen. The Mechelen sculptors Frans Langhemans and Jan Frans Boeckstuyns also worked on this altar.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meulen, Laurens van der
Flemish Baroque sculptors
Painters from Mechelen
Artists from Mechelen
1643 births
1719 deaths