Artikelen

• Hans Vredeman de Vries - ein ‘uomo universale’? [Hans Vredeman de Vries - a ‘uomo universale’?]

  How is the artist Hans Vredeman de Vries to be characterized? Departing from the works of his comprehensive oeuvre that were passed down to us, this question was answered in various ways in art-historiography. Autobiographical statements of Vredeman himself will have to be brought in so as to make clear how he saw himself and what goal in life he pursued.

  Within his immense output of graphic work only five books comprise views of his own: on the one hand they are his books of columns from the years 1565 and 1578, in which Vredeman proposes ornamental variants for the five orders, referring to architectural theory and particularly to Vitruvius. On the other hand, at an advanced age he had presented two manuals, notably in 1577 ‘Architectura’ and in 1604/05 ‘Perspective’.

  Each of these two books comprises annotated texts and illustrations of a theoretical treatise. While in ‘Architectura’ Vredeman demonstrates his expertise in the field of architecture and his feeling for the requirements of practice, in ‘Perspective’ he proves his skills as a perspective painter. Vredeman's statements show that he wanted to compile the knowledge and experience gained throughout his life and present them as an orientation for the prescribed application of the arts.

  However, his personal interests are also involved in these publications: in the dedication of a French first edition of ‘Architectura’ to Prince William of Orange Vredeman is characterized as a careful architect of the Netherlands and an intelligent engineer. He offers his services for the reconstruction of the country after its destruction by the Spaniards.

  In an appendix to the French edition of ‘Architectura’, he mentions his qualifications as an architect and a perspective painter and refers to himself as a town planner. An example of the fact that Vredeman was interested in being equally active in the various disciplines can be found in an autobiographical document in Prague dating from 1598.

  Although at the imperial court of Rudolph II Vredeman mainly occupied himself with painting commissions, he was nevertheless called in for designs of buildings and fountains. Vredeman intended his career to be crowned by offering his practical and theoretical knowledge for the benefit of a university. His request at the University of Leiden in 1604 for a post in the field of perspective, engineering and architecture was rejected, however.

  Thus his scientific legacy is limited to the two manuals. An engraving from 1604 in the opening of the book on perspectives is the only visual representation of the artist definitely known so far: the 77-year-old Vredeman is depicted at a moment of reflection, notably on the theme of ‘Optica’.

  Hendrik Hondius posthumously enlarged this bust to a half-size portrait, which he published in ‘Theatrum Honoris’, a collection of portrayals of painters, in 1610. Unlike in the earlier engraving Vredeman is shown in action here, with a pair of compasses he is working at a geometrical design drawing. Especially the instrument of the compasses signifies that he is acquainted with the mathematically scientific principles of art. All this demonstrates that Vredeman was a ‘uomo universale’.

  How is the artist Hans Vredeman de Vries to be characterized? Departing from the works of his comprehensive oeuvre that were passed down to us, this question was answered in various ways in art-historiography. Autobiographical statements of Vredeman himself will have to be brought in so as to make clear how he saw himself and what goal in life he pursued.

  Within his immense output of graphic work only five books comprise views of his own: on the one hand they are his books of columns from the years 1565 and 1578, in which Vredeman proposes ornamental variants for the five orders, referring to architectural theory and particularly to Vitruvius. On the other hand, at an advanced age he had presented two manuals, notably in 1577 ‘Architectura’ and in 1604/05 ‘Perspective’.

  Each of these two books comprises annotated texts and illustrations of a theoretical treatise. While in ‘Architectura’ Vredeman demonstrates his expertise in the field of architecture...

  How is the artist Hans Vredeman de Vries to be characterized? Departing from the works of his comprehensive oeuvre that were passed down to us, this question was answered in various ways in art-historiography. Autobiographical statements of Vredeman himself will have to be brought in so as to...

  Petra Sophia Zimmermann

  2-13

  • Download PDF
• The Pictures of Hans Vredeman de Vries in the Council's Grand Chamber of the Main City Town Hall in Gdansk

  Hans Vredeman arrived in Gdansk in 1592. He was commissioned by the City Council as the architect of fortifications. On October 1, 1592, Vredeman signed a one-year contract' as the city architect. His task was to build fortifications at the mouth of the Vistula River - Wisloujscie and the Motlawa. A year later it was Anton van Obbergen's project that was approved; Vredeman was dismissed.

  In 1594 the Council commissioned him to paint Orpheus among beasts for the Court of Artus. The picture did not survive. We know that it hung on the south-western wall of the Court. At that time the city authorities undertook to change the decorations in the stately rooms of the Main City Town Hall. It was Vredeman who was commissioned to perform this task. Seven pictures have survived until our times.

  It took two years - 1594 and 1595 - to redecorate the Council's Great Chamber. The artist was assisted by his son Paul. The last trace of Vredeman's stay in Gdansk is a record in the books of December 30, 1595. In the Council's Great Chamber we deal with Vredeman's only cycle of paintings that has survived almost intact. Karl van Mander mentions eight pictures. The first picture presents Justice and Injustice.

  The second picture of the cycle is Council. Piety is the third picture. The next picture shows Concord. Liberty is the subject of the picture that follows. The sixth painting, done by Vredeman for the Council's Room, is titled Constantia, i.e. Constancy. The last picture of the cycle is Last Judgement. In his description of the seven mural pictures, van Mander adds an eighth that served as a screen in front of the fireplace. From his detailed description the picture can be given the title Ratio’.

  Hans Vredeman arrived in Gdansk in 1592. He was commissioned by the City Council as the architect of fortifications. On October 1, 1592, Vredeman signed a one-year contract' as the city architect. His task was to build fortifications at the mouth of the Vistula River - Wisloujscie and the Motlawa. A year later it was Anton van Obbergen's project that was approved; Vredeman was dismissed.

  In 1594 the Council commissioned him to paint Orpheus among beasts for the Court of Artus. The picture did not survive. We know that it hung on the south-western wall of the Court. At that time the city authorities undertook to change the decorations in the stately rooms of the Main City Town Hall. It was Vredeman who was commissioned to perform this task. Seven pictures have survived until our times.

  It took two years - 1594 and 1595 - to redecorate the Council's Great Chamber. The artist was assisted by his son Paul. The last trace of Vredeman's stay in Gdansk...

  Hans Vredeman arrived in Gdansk in 1592. He was commissioned by the City Council as the architect of fortifications. On October 1, 1592, Vredeman signed a one-year contract' as the city architect. His task was to build fortifications at the mouth of the Vistula River - Wisloujscie and the...

  Krzysztof Gronowicz

  14-26

  • Download PDF
• Between the Histories of Art and Architecture: Critical Reception of Hans Vredeman de Vries

  As an itinerant draughtsman, fortifications engineer, painter, and rhetorician, Hans Vredeman de Vries has never fit smoothly into 19th and 20th century historical narratives that insist upon the idea of ‘national schools’. The separation contemporary historians have often unwittingly placed between Vredeman’s work as a graphic designer and as an architect seems inconsistent with the reality of the sixteenth century, and is often predicated upon stylistic and periodic designations defined by the Italian Renaissance.

  This essay's survey of historiography on Vredeman reveals a picture where 19th and 20th century authors are often at odds with writers from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, who appear less apt to draw sharp distinctions between Vredeman's role as an architectural designer and artist. As pattern books, Vredeman's series' were by nature subject to widely varying uses and receptions, more so even than other types of prints bound to historical or propagandistic narratives. The market for and reception of Vredeman's architectural books and print series during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is also characterized by exceptional diversity in terms of distribution and classification.

  During Vredeman's stays in Antwerp between 1561-1570 and 1575-1586 demand for the new specialty of architectural prints appears to have remained relatively stable in the Netherlands, thanks largely to the initial popularity of imported ‘perspective’ designs by Jean Cousin and Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, as the collections of Philips II at the Escorial or Ferdinand of Tyrol at Ambras demonstrate.

  In such collections Vredeman's works also held an appeal for practicing artists and architects. Vincenzo Scamozzi, for example, owned an album that included plates from Vredeman's Den Eersten Boek and Das ander Beuch, as well as a complete edition of Architectura. Meanwhile from inventories it is clear that many Dutch 17th century. painters possessed ‘perspectiefboeken’ authored by Vredeman de Vries, specifically. Vredeman and his milieu became relatively unpopular in an atmosphere of architectural classicism after 1700.

  Only after a re-evaluation of ‘mannerist’ art and architecture had begun among Viennese art historians in the late nineteenth century, and increased authority was granted to the idea of Dutch (and Belgian) national schools was Hans Vredeman de Vries' work to again receive extensive consideration. In 1870 photolithographic reproductions of several Vredeman volumes from the Brussels library of G.A. van Trigt were published.

  Soon after monographic treatments by Schoy (1876) and Peters (1895) would independently claim Vredeman as part of divergent architectural heritages, introducing to the artist's reputation a kind of nationalistic tone which colored his subsequent study. Yet Schoy and Peters also insisted upon Vredeman's place in the idea of an Netherlandish architectural Renaissance. This idea has influenced many postwar studies of his undertakings, such as Mielke (1967) and Forssman (1956).

  Meanwhile, Vredeman's reputation as an indigenously Netherlandish specialist in perspectiven has placed him into many broader discussions about art practice as well as perception and optics, as in Alpers (1983). This at a time when Vredeman's eccentric reputation has made him again attractive to art- and architectural histories interested in materials traditionally excluded by older stylistic categories.

  As an itinerant draughtsman, fortifications engineer, painter, and rhetorician, Hans Vredeman de Vries has never fit smoothly into 19th and 20th century historical narratives that insist upon the idea of ‘national schools’. The separation contemporary historians have often unwittingly placed between Vredeman’s work as a graphic designer and as an architect seems inconsistent with the reality of the sixteenth century, and is often predicated upon stylistic and periodic designations defined by the Italian Renaissance.

  This essay's survey of historiography on Vredeman reveals a picture where 19th and 20th century authors are often at odds with writers from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, who appear less apt to draw sharp distinctions between Vredeman's role as an architectural designer and artist. As pattern books, Vredeman's series' were by nature subject to widely varying uses and receptions, more so even than other types of prints bound to historical or...

  As an itinerant draughtsman, fortifications engineer, painter, and rhetorician, Hans Vredeman de Vries has never fit smoothly into 19th and 20th century historical narratives that insist upon the idea of ‘national schools’. The separation contemporary historians have often unwittingly...

  Christopher Heuer

  27-40

  • Download PDF