Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne (1589 – 12 November 1662), was a versatile Dutch Golden Age painter of allegories, genre subjects, and portraits, as well as a miniaturist, book illustrator, designer of political satires, and versifier.

Biography

Van de Venne was born in Delft. According to Houbraken he learned Latin in

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 wi ...

. He learned to paint from the master goldsmith and painter Simon de Valk, and afterwards learned engraving from Jeronimus van Diest, a good painter of

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

s. He then moved to

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

in 1614 where he was influenced by

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collabora ...

and

Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called gen ...

. His political painting '' Fishing for Souls'', 1614, is an ironic commentary on the Catholic and Protestant troubles of the

Eighty Years War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

that split the border between the Northern from the Southern Netherlands along the

Schelde The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

river, very close to his home in Middleburg. When he painted this picture, the

Twelve Years' Truce The Twelve Years' Truce was a ceasefire during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609 and ended on 9 April 1621. While European powers like France began treating the Republic as a soverei ...

was in effect since 1609. The influence of Jan Brueghel the Elder is particularly evident in this allegory of religious fanaticism. From 1620 until his death van de Venne made many grisailles and

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s of genre subjects, featuring peasants, beggars, thieves and fools as illustrations of current proverbs and sayings, mostly by Jacob Cats.Noted in the preface by K. Porteman to Annelies Plokker, ''Adriaen Pietersz. Van de Venne (1589-1662), de grisailles met spreukbanden'' (1984). This work made him famous during his lifetime, and remained popular throughout the 18th century after his death. Van de Venne also worked as a book illustrator and print designer. Van de Venne moved to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

and joined the

Guild of Saint 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 Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...

in 1625, taking the position of dean in 1637. He was a founding member of

Confrerie Pictura The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague (the Netherlands) by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there. History The guild of St. Luke in the Hague existed a ...

, a group bent on improving the independent status and social position of the artist in Dutch society by encouraging a more academic approach to the arts. He died in The Hague. File:Van den Venne dodo.jpg, ''A Dodo'' (1626) File:Venne Woman and a jester.jpg, ''Woman and a jester.'' (1630s) File:Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne - An Amorous Peasant Couple Conversing - WGA24547.jpg, ''An Amorous Peasant Couple Conversing'' (1631) File:Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne - A Cavalier at His Dressing Table - WGA24549.jpg, ''A Cavalier at His Dressing Table'' (1631) File:Adriaen van de Venne (Dutch - A Merry Company in an Arbor - Google Art Project.jpg, ''A Merry Company in an Arbor'' File:Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne - Fools Have the Most Fun - WGA24552.jpg, ''Fools Have the Most Fun'' File:Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne - "Where There Are People Money May Be Made" - WGA24557.jpg, ''Where There Are People Money May Be Made'', 1652 (

private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individu ...

) File:De zielenvisserij - Fishing for souls (Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne).jpg, '' Fishing for Souls'' (''Zielenvisserij''), 1614, a satirical allegory of Protestant-Catholic struggles for souls during the Dutch Revolt ( Rijksmuseum) File:Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne - Landschap met figuren en een dorpskermis (Rijksmuseum).jpg, ''Landscape with figures File:1614 van de Venne Winter anagoria.JPG, ''Winter''

Notes

References

* Laurens J. Bol, series of articles on van de Venne in ''Tableau'', 1982–84. * Filippo Baldinucci's Artists in biographies by Filippo Baldinucci, 1610–1670, p. 19
Google books

External links

Adriaen van de Venne
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
Works and literature on Adriaen van de Venne''Vermeer and The Delft School''
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Adriaen van de Venne {{DEFAULTSORT:Venne, Adriaen Van De 1580s births 1662 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Artists from Delft Painters from The Hague