Simon Ardé (also Simon Ardi, Symon van Antwerpen and nickname Tovenaer) (probably

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, 1594 –

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, 1638) was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

painter who was active in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for most part of his life.Biographical details
at

The Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

Biography

Nothing is known about his background and training. He was in Rome from 1620, and maybe as early as 1617. He was one of the co-founders in 1623 of the

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 incl ...

, which was set up as a social club of principally

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and Flemish artists working in Rome. The nickname he took in the Bentvueghels was 'Tovenaer', which means 'wizard'. His portrait appears on one of the anonymous drawings of members of the Bentvueghels made around 1623 and now kept in the

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from its two most important donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. The museum is located a ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. The drawing shows Simon Ardé pouring liquor into the glasses of the other members of the Bentvueghels Jean Ducamps, Pieter Anthonisz. van Groenewegen and

Joost Campen Joost () was an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). During 2007–2008 Joost used peer-to-peer TV (P2PTV) technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in la ...

. Underneath his portrait is written ‘Sijmon van Antwerpen Alias Den Tooveaner’, which translates as 'Simon from Antwerp, aka the Wizard'. This is an indication that Ardé was likely from Antwerp originally. He remained in Rome until his death on 22 August 1638. No works of his are known to have survived.Biographical details
at Hadrianus

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arde, Simon Flemish Baroque painters Painters from Antwerp 17th-century births Members of the Bentvueghels 1638 deaths People from the Spanish Netherlands Expatriates in the Papal States