Pieter Xavery (name variations: Pieter Saverij, Pieter Savoriex, Pieter Xaveri, Pieter Xaverii) (1647 in

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,

– after 1674 in Antwerp) 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; ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

sculptor whose principal known works were made during his residence 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 ...

Life

The details about his early life and training are scarce. In 1670 he went to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

to study mathematics at the university.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 ...

It is not clear whether he was brought to Leiden by his compatriot

Rombout Verhulst Rombout Verhulst (15 January 1624 – buried 27 November 1698) was a Flemish sculptor and draughtsman who spent most of his career in the Dutch Republic. An independent assistant of the Flemish sculptor Artus Quellinus the Elder in the sculpt ...

or was simply his successor. In Leiden he married Gertrude Bruysscher in 1670. He remained in the city where he continued his career as a sculptor. Xavery is known to have been active in Leiden until 1674, after which he is said to have returned to Antwerp. There is no record of any works by his hand following his return to Antwerp.Cynthia Lawrence. "Xavery, Pieter."
in: Sheila D. Muller (ed.), Dutch Art: An Encyclopedia (Google eBook), Routledge, 4 Jul 2013 - It is believed that Xavery was related to the sculptor

Jan Baptist Xavery Jan Baptist Xavery or Jan Baptist Xavery (30 March 1697, in Antwerp – 19 July 1742, in Antwerp) was a Flemish sculptor principally active in the Dutch Republic.

Exterieur timpaan, BEELDHOUWWERK, DETAIL - Leiden - 20263132 - RCE

Work

His earliest known work is the ''Flagellation of Christ'', a

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

dated 1667, one of the few surviving religious works by his hand. His work tends towards

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

and

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

. Many of his works are in

, while a few are in

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

. His small-scale works show his talent for picturesque caricature. These terracotta figures with oversize heads and prominent features predate the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style with its preference for exaggeration. This is well demonstrated by the ''Two madmen'' in the collection of the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

. Xavery also executed a number of monumental pieces during his residence in Leiden. Among these were stone decorations for the

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

and

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s of the

Gravensteen The Gravensteen (Dutch; literally "Castle of the Counts") is a medieval castle at Ghent, East Flanders in Belgium. The current castle dates from 1180 and was the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1353. It was subsequently re-purposed as a c ...

. He also produced in Leiden a pediment sculpture for the house " In den vergulden Turk" ("In the Gilded Turk") representing a Turk,

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

and

Angora goat Angora may refer to: Places *Angora, the historic name of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey *Angora, Philadelphia **Angora (SEPTA station), a commuter rail station *Angora, Minnesota * Angora Township, Minnesota *Angora, Nebraska *Angora Lakes ...

(all symbols related to the textile trade for which Leiden was famous) and a collection of twenty-three judges and lawyers for the

Vierschaar A Vierschaar is a historical term for a tribunal in the Netherlands. Before the separation of lawmaking, law enforcement, and justice duties, the government of every town was administered by a senate (called a ''Wethouderschap'') formed of two, thr ...

. All remain ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

''.Cynthia Lawrence. "Xavery, Pieter."
Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 24 March 2014. He also made a series of busts of Roman emperors of which the plasters in Leiden are likely copies. There is a large collection of his work at the Rijksmuseum.Pieter Xavery
in the Rijksmuseum

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Xavery, Pieter 1640s births Year of death unknown Flemish Baroque sculptors Architectural sculptors Artists from Antwerp