Modello for the frontispiece for the Theatrum Pictorium, by Teniers
Theatrum Pictorium, or Theatre of Painting, is a short-hand name of a book published in the 1660s by David Teniers the Younger for his employer, the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. It catalogs 243 Italian paintings in the Archduke's collection of over 1300 paintings. The paintings are reproduced by engravings made by various engravers after reduced-size copies (modelli) created by Teniers. David Teniers' brother Abraham Teniers was involved in organizing the publication of the work.[1] A second edition with page numbers was published in 1673.
Before moving back to Vienna in 1656, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm kept his art collection in his palace in Brussels. Teniers depicted the galleries in which the collection was displayed in various compositions which are now spread across various collections.[2]
Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels (I)
At the end of his governorship in 1656, the Archduke and his collection relocated to the Stallburg. This archducal collection now forms the heart of Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Scope of the project
During his tenure as keeper of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's collection, Teniers undertook the preparation and publication of the first ever illustrated catalog of old master paintings.[3] His brother Abraham Teniers was involved in organizing the publication of the work.[1] The first official publication of the work in bound book format was published by Hendrick Aertssens in Brussels in 1660 (although the title page states the date as 1658).
The title page of the book refers to it as 'Hoc Amphiteatrum Picturarum' ('This amphitheatre of pictures').[4] The publication is now often referred to as Theatrum pictorium ('Theatre of Paintings').[1] The cover of the Theatrum pictorium shows a bust portrait of the Archduke with a dedication to the Archduke as well as introductions in Latin, French, Spanish and Dutch. The title page clarifies that Teniers funded the publication project out of his own pocket.[5] The Theatrum pictorium was published in four languages (Latin, French, Dutch, and Spanish) and further editions appeared in 1673 and 1688 and in the 18th century. The last edition was published in 1755.[6][7]
Execution of the project
View into the picture gallery of the Archduke Leopold in Brussels, by Nikolaus van Hoy from Theatrum Pictorium, 1656–1660
Teniers used full colour in the modelli, rather than grisaille. This could mean that he intended these reproductions to function as independent records of some of these Italian paintings in the Archduke's collection. From the many modelli, which have been preserved, it is obvious that Teniers's copies constitute a true record of the originals even while he left out details and painted them in his typical fluid and transparent manner. The engraving of the catalog by engravers who worked after the modelli, not the originals, was started by 1656.[5] In the 17th century there existed no efficient method for inverting images. As a result, most of the prints in the catalog are reverse images of the originals.[6] Each print gives the name of the author of the original work on the left hand side (indicated by the letter 'p' for 'pinxit', Latin for 'painted by') and the engraver of the print on the right hand side (indicated by the letter 's' for 'sculpsit', Latin for 'engraved by'). Some editions also indicated the original dimensions of the paintings.[7]
Selection of works
The publication comprised 243 engravings of important Italian paintings in the art collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. While the project was initially planned to include the entire collection of the Archduke, the Archduke returned to Vienna before the project was completed. As a result, ultimately only a series of 246 plates was produced, of which 243 depicted about half of the Italian paintings then owned by the Archduke).
Teniers made a list of the painters in the collection as part of the forward to his 1673 catalog:
Of all the painters, Michaelina Wautier (who was not an Italian painter) and Madonna Fitta de Milano are the only women whose work is documented in the Archduke's collection.
Teniers's modelli and the Theatrum pictorium serve as a record for some important paintings the whereabouts of which are currently unknown. For instance, the modelli in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of the Old Age in Search of Youth attributed by Teniers to Correggio and the Adam and Eve after Padovanino are the most important records of these lost paintings.[5]
The Theatrum Pictorium had an important impact on the manner in which collections were organised, appreciated and published and continued to be used as a reference book during the 18th century.[3]
Surviving works
The works listed in the Theatrum pictorium that survive are generally in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, while the modelli or small models for the engravings have been lost or are in other collections. The engravings and the modelli were inscribed with the dimensions of the original paintings, though their characteristics were often adjusted to take advantage of the maximum illustration possibilities of the album page size. The dimensions were in the form "4 alta 3 lata", which means 4 palm-widths high and 3 palm-widths wide, such as the case with the engraving after Bassano'sBoy with a Flute:
Example of a painting by Francesco Bassano the Younger in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Example of a modello by David Teniers the Younger after Bassano, also in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Example of an engraving from the first, 1660, edition of the Theatrum Pictorium by Jan van Troyen after the Bassano painting
List of engravings (matched to painting or modello)
David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile artist known for his prolific output. He was an innovator in a wide range of genres such as history painting, genre painting, landscape painting, portrait and still life. He is now best remembered as the leading Flemish genre painter of his day. Teniers is particularly known for developing the peasant genre, the tavern scene, pictures of collections and scenes with alchemists and physicians.
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts.
Nikolaas van Hoy, known in Austria as Nikolaus van Hoy was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman and etcher.
The Three Philosophers is an oil painting on canvas attributed to the Italian High Renaissance artist Giorgione. It shows three philosophers – one young, one middle-aged, and one old. The work was commissioned by the Venetian noble Taddeo Contarini, a Venetian merchant with an interest in the occult and alchemy. The Three Philosophers was finished one year before the painter died. One of Giorgione’s last paintings, it is now displayed at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The painting was thought to have been finished by Sebastiano del Piombo, but a "new infrared reflectogram lends no support to the theory".
The Stallburg is a renaissance-style building in the Vienna city center located between Josefsplatz and Michaelerplatz. It is part of the Hofburg Palace.
Violante is an oil painting attributed to Titian, dated to around 1515 and now held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The Portrait of Jacopo Strada is a 1567-68 portrait of the court librarian Jacopo Strada by Titian, now held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The Madonna of the Cherries is a 1515 painting by Titian, heavily influenced by the work of Giovanni Bellini. Originally oil on wood, it was later transferred to canvas. During the 17th century it formed part of the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, where it was copied by David Teniers. It is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Jan van Troyen was a Flemish engraver and etcher. He is mainly known for the work he did for David Teniers the Younger on the illustrations for the Theatrum Pictorium, an publication which gave an overview of the paintings in the collection of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm.
Judith with the head of Holofernes is a 1610–1615 painting by the painter Carlo Saraceni, now held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Saint Margaret and the Dragon is the title shared by two paintings of Saint Margaret by the Renaissance painter Raphael, both executed in about 1518. One is held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the other in the Louvre in Paris.
Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels is a 1651 painting of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Italian art collection by the Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger, now held in Petworth House in England.
The Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Painting Gallery in Brussels is a 1651 painting of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Italian art collection by the Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger, now held in the Prado in Madrid.
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and the artist in the archducal picture gallery in Brussels is a 1651 painting of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Italian art collection by the Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger, now held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and the artist in the archducal picture gallery in Brussels is a 1653 painting of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Italian art collection by the Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger. It is now held in a private collection, but it was previously owned by the Rothschild family, from whom it was taken in World War II and placed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum where it stayed for 50 years until restitution in 1999.
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and the artist in the archducal picture gallery in Brussels is a 1653 painting of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Italian art collection by the Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger, now held in the collection of Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid.
Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels is a 1651 painting of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Italian art collection by the Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger, now in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
Franciscus van der Steen was a Flemish painter and engraver who was active in Vienna. He is now mainly known for his reproductive prints after master paintings and various publications containing portraits of prominent persons. No known paintings are currently attributed to him.
Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels is a painting of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Italian art collection by the Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger, now held in the Schleissheim Palace. It dates to the 1650s.
Christ and the Adulteress, also titled Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, or The Adulteress before Christ, is an oil painting by Titian, made about 1520, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
1 2 Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen (editor), David Teniers and the Theatre of Painting, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, 2006
↑ Th. van Lerius, Biographies d'Artistes Anversois at P. Kockx, Antwerp, 1880, p. 96. Full title is SERENISS. PRINCIPI / LEOPOLDO GVILLIEL: / Archiduci Austr. etc. / Dno. suo clement: / HOC AMPHITHEATRVM / PICTVRARVM / ex suæ Serent: archetypis / delineatum sua manu / dedicauit / Ao. MDXLVIII / Underneath this: Dauid Teniers suæ Ser: Pictor domest: Underneath this are some further verses as follows: / Palladis ingenium est Leopoldo fortiter Ille et / Suauiter hinc armis, artibus inde vacat. / Arma aliàs: nunc artifices circum ordine formas / Ponitc; et hsec Illi nempe corona placet. / Arte alij vultus, médius non-pingitur vllâ; / Obsequio tantum seruiit ista manus. (in French)
1 2 3 Charles Sterling, Fifteenth- to Eighteenth-century European Paintings: France, Central Europe, the Netherlands, Spain, and Great Britain, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998, p. 129-137
Complete set of images from the 1660s version with associated metadata listing titles (not in the 1673 book), original artist names (note that the engravings reflect the period attributions by Teniers, while some paintings have since been reattributed), page numbers, and engravers in the Slovak National Gallery
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
