Boetius à Bolswert (also Boetius Adamsz Bolswert, Bodius; c. 1585, – late 1633) was a Flemish
engraver of
Friesland
Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...
origin. In his time the paintings of
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...
called forth new endeavours by engravers to imitate or reproduce the breadth, density of mass and dynamic illumination of those works. Boetius Bolswert was an important figure in this movement, not least because he was the elder brother and instructor of the engraver
Schelte à Bolswert, whose reproductions of Rubens's landscapes were most highly esteemed in their own right.
Career

The birthplace of the Bolswerts at the little town of
Bolsward
Bolsward (, West Frisian: ''Boalsert'') is a city in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward has a population of just under 10,200. It is located 10 km W.N.W. of Sneek.
History
The town is founded on th ...
, Friesland, was confirmed by
Cornelis de Bie
Cornelis de Bie (10 February 1627 – ) was a Flemish '' rederijker'', poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier. He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies. He is known internationally today for his biographical sketches of Flemish ...
in his ''
Het Gulden Cabinet
or ''The Golden Cabinet of the Noble Liberal Art of Painting'' is a book by the 17th-century Flemish notary and ''Chamber of rhetoric, rederijker'' Cornelis de Bie. It was published in Antwerp. Written in the Dutch language, it contains artist ...
''. Boetius came early in life to Holland, where he appears around 1610; he was then dwelling in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, and sometimes also in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
.
In 1610 he produced his four scenes of the ''Horrors of the Spanish War'', after designs by
David Vinckboons. Reproductions of large landscapes by Vinckboons and
Gillis van Coninxloo
Gillis van Coninxloo (now also referred to as Gillis van Coninxloo II but previously referred to as Gillis van Coninxloo III) (24 January 1544 – January 1607) was a Flemish painter of landscapes who played an important role in the development ...
III were among his early successes, employing a dense and diffuse technique, in a genre to which he later made transforming contributions. In 1615 and 1616 he was licensed by the Dutch States-General to engrave from the portraits of
Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt
Michiel Janszoon ( Jansz.) van Mierevelt (; also spelled Miereveld or Miereveldt; 1 May 1566 – 27 June 1641) was a Dutch painter and draftsman of the Dutch Golden Age.
Biography
Van Mierevelt was born and died in Delft, as a son of a goldsm ...
, such as the portraits of Elizabeth and Frederik of Bohemia. In 1618 he depicted the ceremonial funeral-bed of the newly deceased
Philipp Wilhelm, Prince of Orange.
However Bolswert's most notable collaboration in this period was with
Abraham Bloemaert
Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who used etching and engraving. He initially worked in the style of the " Haarlem Mannerists", but by the beginning of the 17th-century altered his style ...
, after whom he produced various series. It is thought they worked closely, for Bolswert carefully imitated aspects of his graphic style, and has been described as his pupil. His 1611 series ''Pastorals'' using Bloemaert models shows the early fruits of that influence. Their collaboration in various works from 1612 on the theme of ''Saints and Hermits'' culminated in 1619 in
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 ...
in the ''Sylva Anachoretica Ægypti Et Palæstinæ (The Hermit Woodland of Egypt and Palestine)'', a quarto (230mm) volume depicting imaginary portraits of 25 male and 25 female hermits of antiquity, with facing descriptive Latin texts, printed by Hendrick Aertssens. Dutch and French editions were reprinted in the same year. This was apparently commissioned by the Jesuit
Heribert van Rosweijde (1569–1629), (founder of the project for the ''
Acta Sanctorum
''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, organised by the saints' feast days. The project was conceived and ...
'' taken up by the
Bollandists
The Bollandist Society (; ) is an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christia ...
), rector of the Jesuit college at Antwerp. Rosweyde dedicated the Bolswert work to his benefactor, Abbot Antoine de Wynghe of
Liessies Abbey
Liessies Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Liessies, near Avesnes-sur-Helpe, in the Archdiocese of Cambrai and the ''département'' of Nord, France.
First foundation
It was founded in 751 and dedicated to Saint Lambert. It se ...
, Département Nord, France. It was evidently a companion-book to Rosweyde's major Latin work ''
Vitae Patrum
The ''Vitae Patrum'' or ''Vitas Patrum'' (literally ''Lives of the Fathers'') is a collection of hagiographical writings on the Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers of early Christianity.
Latin tradition
The earliest works that came to be part of ...
'', ''Lives of the Fathers'' (biographies of early Church hermits), of 1615, a compilation from which was produced at Antwerp in 1619 by
Jan van Gorcum
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article Numb ...
.
At
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 ...
between September 1620 and September 1621, Boetius Bolswert was admitted as free Master in the
Guild of St 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 Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...
. Slightly before this, in January 1620, he became (as a good Roman Catholic and bachelor) a member of the
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
Sodality of Adult Bachelorhood; in September 1620 we find him in the office of Consultor within it, and in September 1622 as Assistant to the Prefects. Antwerp was then a leading centre of
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
artistic and literary activity.
In 1624 he collaborated with the
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
Jesuit Father
Herman Hugo (1588–1629) in the production of 'the 17th century's most popular devotional book,' ''Pia Desideria'' – a work indicating three paths to salvation, through purification, illumination and union, an
Emblem book
An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Emblem books are collection ...
which ran through many editions and versions. It consisted of a series of 45 emblems by Bolswert with accompanying verses by Hugo, subjects for meditation on the theme of spiritual love. Hugo had been teacher at the Jesuit College in Antwerp and rector of the Jesuit College in Brussels, and became army chaplain to
Ambrogio Spinola
Ambrogio Spinola Doria, 1st Marquess of Los Balbases and 1st Duke of Sesto (1569 – 25 September 1630) was an Italian military leader and nobleman of the Republic of Genoa, who served as a Spanish general and won a number of important battles. ...
in Spain. The 45 plates were reproduced in the last three volumes of the ''Emblems'' of
Francis Quarles first published in 1635.
In 1627 Bolswert was in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
: from this city he gave, under the date of 1 May 1627 the dedication of his book, ''Duyfkens ende Willemynkens Pelgrimagie'' (''Duyfkens and Willemynkens Pilgrimage''). This little book (illustrated with his own engravings), which reveals him also to have been a writer, is seen in the later editions of 1631, 1638 and 1641, and in new (and re-cut) editions thereafter: it was a much-read Catholic devotional book and was translated into French. It described an allegorical voyage to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
by two sisters. Now some of the descriptions and narratives in it seem frankly ridiculous.
In 1639 Aertssens printed Bolswert's plates for the retelling of the mediaeval story of ''The Miracle of Amsterdam'' by Leonard Marius (Goesanus) (1588–1652), Roman Catholic priest at the
Begijnhof. Some of the 16 full-page engraved plates are based on illustration designs attributed to Rubens.
Boetius à Bolswert soon established his engraving press in Holland, but he maintained a more extensive publishing house in Belgium: he now took his subjects from
Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...
and from other
Flemish painters, and himself attempted work in the field of composition. He took as his starting-point the narrow manner of
Philip Galle
Philip (or Philips) Galle (1537 – March 1612) was a Dutch publisher, best known for publishing old master prints, which he also produced as designer and engraver. He is especially known for his reproductive engravings of paintings.
Life
Galle ...
and similar engravers; in Antwerp, through the influence of the great Rubens (who, without himself being an engraver, influenced others to achieve greater solidity of mass or volumes in engraved representations), he brought his art to a larger and broader grasp of Form than had previously been achieved in that medium.
[Allegemeine Deutsche Biographie.] He died at Antwerp.
Notes and references
Sources
* Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Hollstein, ''Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts ca. 1450–1700'' (1949– )
* (Ibid.) ''The new Hollstein. Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450–1700'' (1993– )
* Anne Gerard Christiaan de Vries, ''De Nederlandsche Emblemata. Geschiedenis en Bibliographic tot de 18' eeuw'' (Amsterdam, 1899).
External links
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco – Bolswert online gallery*
ttp://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?LinkID=mp16855&rNo=0&role=art National Portrait Gallery: Elizabeth of Bohemia 1615, after Miereveldt, by Boetius BolswertBolswert eremites engravings with descriptions from the De Verda Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolswert, Boetius a
1580s births
1633 deaths
Dutch Golden Age printmakers
Flemish engravers
17th-century engravers
Painters from Antwerp
People from Bolsward
Catholic engravers