![Nicolaes de Bruyn - The Circumcision of Christ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Nicolaes_de_Bruyn_-_The_Circumcision_of_Christ.jpg)
Nicolaes de Bruyn (
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , 1571 -
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, 1656)
Biographical details
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 ...
was a Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
engraver, who after training in Antwerp was active in 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 ...
.
De Bruyn was the son of the sugar manufacturer Jan de Bruyn and nephew of the engraver . He was the brother-in-law of Jan van Londerseel
Jan van Londerseel (Antwerp, between 1570 and 1575 - Rotterdam, 1624–25) was a Flemish draughtsman, engraver, etcher and print maker. After training and working in Antwerp he was active in the Dutch Republic during the latter part of his caree ...
, another Flemish engraver who would move to Rotterdam. He was trained in the art of engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
by his uncle Abraham. He did not follow he style of his master, either in the style of his execution, or in the size of his plates. He appears to have studied and to have formed his style from the works of Lucas van Leyden
Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very ac ...
.
His compositions are abundant, but he lacked taste in the selection of his forms. He finished his plates very neatly with the burin. There is not much effect in his print as he was not skilled in chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...
. Notwithstanding this defect, which was very general in the period in which he lived, his works possess considerable merit. He worked in Rotterdam from 1617 onwards, and he died there in 1656. He signed his plates sometimes with his initials N. de B., and sometimes with a monogram.
The following are his principal works:
Subjects from his own designs
*''Adam and Eve in Paradise''. 1600.
*''Adam and Eve standing under the Tree of the Forbidden Fruit''. 1631.
*''The Israelites with the Daughters of Madian''.
*''The great Festival of the Jews after six years' bondage''. 1617.
*''King Balak speaking to the Prophet Balaam''.
*''The Prophet Jeremiah, with a Lion''. 1608.
*''The Vision of Ezekiel''. 1600.
*''David and Goliath''. 1609.
*''David meeting Abigail''. 1608.
*''The Queen of Sheba before Solomon''. 1621.
*''The Idolatry of Solomon''. 1606.
*''Nebuchadnezzar's Dream''.
*''Daniel in the Lions' Den''.
*''Susannah accused by the Elders''.
*''Susannah's Acquittal''.
*''The Stoning of the Two Elders''.
*''Christ before Caiaphas''. 1619.
*''The Nativity of Christ''. 1621.
*''The Adoration of the Magi''. 1608.
*''The Repose in Egypt''. 1621.
*''The Murder of the Innocents''. 1644.
*''St. John preaching in the Wilderness''.
*''Christ preaching on the Mount''.
*''The Centurion imploring Christ''.
*''Christ's Entrance into Jerusalem''.
*''Christ bearing his Cross''. 1617.
*''The Crucifixion''. 1610.
*''The Resurrection''. 1631.
*''St. Paul preaching''. 1621.
*''St. Hubert''. 1614.
*''Orpheus playing, surrounded by Animals''.
*''A Family of Peasants''.
*''A Landscape, with Lions, Tigers, and Stags''.
*''A Spanish Assembly in a Forest''.
*A set of six Patterns for Goldsmiths.
*A set of twelve of Quadrupeds. 1621.
*A set of twelve of Birds.
*A set of thirteen of Fishes.
Subjects after various masters
*''St. John preaching in the Wilderness''; after Lucas van Leyden.
*''A Miracle wrought at the Tomb of St. James''; after the same. 1600.
*''The Golden Age''; after A. Bloemaert.
*''Four Landscapes, with historical figures''; after G. van Coninxlo.
*''Three Landscapes, with figures''; after D. Vinckebooms.
*''A Landscape, with a Stag-hunt''; after Jan Brueghel.
*''A Landscape, with Moses defending the Daughters of Jethro''; after J. Bol.
*''Four of the Seasons''; after M. De Vos.
*''St. Cecilia''; after 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. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...
.
*''A Knight on Horseback, accompanied by Time, and followed by the Devil''; after A. Dürer. 1618.
*'' Eliha and the children of Bethel'';after Gillis van Coninxloo (Kupferstichkabinett Dresden).
References
Attribution:
*
External links
*
Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints
', a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Nicolaes de Bruyn (see index)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruyn, Nicolaes de
1571 births
1656 deaths
16th-century engravers
17th-century engravers
Flemish engravers
Artists from Antwerp