Unity and Discontinuity Architectural Relations Between the Southern and Northern Low Countries

Transcription

1 Unity and Discontinuity Architectural Relations Between the Southern and Northern Low Countries

2 ARCHITECTURA MODERNA Architectural Exchanges in Europe, 16 th - 17 th Centuries Vol. 5 Series Editors: Krista De Jonge (Leuven) Piet Lombaerde (Antwerp) Advisory Board: Howard Burns (Vicenza/Pisa) Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann (Princeton) Jean Guillaume (Paris) Konrad Ottenheym (Utrecht) Ulrich Schütte (Marburg)

3 Unity and Discontinuity. Architectural Relations between the Southern and Northern Low Countries Edited by Krista De Jonge & Konrad Ottenheym Contributing Authors Krista De Jonge Konrad Ottenheym Joris Snaet Gabri van Tussenbroek and Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann H F

4 Cover illustrations: (left) Leiden, entrance of the Marekerk, 1659 (photo Konrad Ottenheym) (right) Bruges, deanery of St. Donaas, 1665 (photo Konrad Ottenheym) (background) Claes Jansz. Visscher, Novissima, et Accuratissima Leonis Belgici, seu Septemdecim Regionum Descriptio, Amsterdam 1611 (Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, Kaarten en Plannen, inv. no. IV 561-XIII A Pays-Bas Gén Visscher) This research was carried out with the financial support of the Vlaams Nederlands Comité (VNC), a joint initiative of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) and the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen (FWO). Text revised by P.D. Garvin, with the support from the NWO. Published with the support of the Universitaire Stichting van België/Uitgegeven met de steun van de Universitaire Stichting van België Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium and the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. D/2007/0095/20 ISBN Printed in the E.U. on acid-free paper

5 Table of contents Table of Contents Preface page VII Introduction: Unity and Discontinuity in the Historiography of the Low Countries 1 by Konrad Ottenheym Part One. The First Reception of the Antique 15 Introduction: Italy as a Beacon? 17 Chapter I: Anticse Wercken : Architecture in the Antique Manner Chapter II: Standardizing Antique Architecture Chapter III: Antiquity Assimilated: Court Architecture Chapter IV: A Model Architect: Jacques Du Broeucq Part Two. Architectural Theory, Antique and Modern Introduction: Antique vs. Modern? 89 by Konrad Ottenheym & Krista De Jonge Chapter I: Of Columns and Wooden Piles. The Foundations of Architectural Theory in the Low Countries by Konrad Ottenheym & Krista De Jonge Chapter II: Architectura Moderna. The Systemization of Architectural Ornament around by Konrad Ottenheym Chapter III: La vera simmetria conforme le regole degli antichi. Rubens and Huygens on Vitruvius 137 by Konrad Ottenheym Part Three. Patrons and Patronage Chapter I: The Production Process of Architecture within the Context of the Courts & Konrad Ottenheym Chapter II: Civic Prestige. Building the City by Konrad Ottenheym & Krista De Jonge Chapter III: For the Greater Glory of God. Religious Architecture in the Low Countries by Joris Snaet Part Four. Building Materials and Trade 299 Chapter I: Building Materials and Trade. Changes in the Organisation of the Building Industry between North and South by Gabri van Tussenbroek Conclusions: Continuity and Change in the Architectural Relations between the Southern and Northern Low Countries by Konrad Ottenheym & Krista De Jonge Epilogue: Acculturation, Transculturation, Cultural Difference and Diffusion 339 by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann Abbreviations 351 Bibliography 353 Index 411 V

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7 Preface This book is the result of almost ten years of research, carried out jointly since 1996 under the direction of Krista De Jonge at the Catholic University of Leuven and Konrad Ottenheym at the University of Utrecht. We have had one specific objective in mind: to close, at least partially, the gap that since 1830 has divided Belgian and Dutch historiography on the subject of architecture, and to bring current views into line with developments in the field of early modern art history. Surprising though it may seem, no joint architectural history of the Southern and Northern Low Countries, which roughly correspond to the present-day states of Belgium and The Netherlands, exists as yet for the early modern period. When, after a short period of unity under William I ( ), the Belgian and Dutch Kingdoms went their separate ways, both developed their own architectural histories with a particular nationalistic bent. The architectural past was used to reinforce national identity and to give meaning to the new borders, and everything that the Northern and Southern Low Countries had once held in common was forgotten. The appreciation and, in particular, the standing of Netherlandish sixteenth and seventeenth-century architecture in European architectural history has suffered as a result, not least because most available literature is still firmly rooted in nineteenth-century clichés. This is the Unity and Discontinuity referred to in the title of the book: a phrase coined by Charles van den Heuvel who, as a (then) researcher of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie voor Wetenschappen, greatly contributed to the genesis of this project in its earliest years. The architectural relations between the Northern and Southern Low Countries during the period have been examined on four levels: the patronage of architecture by the court in the North and South, patronage by the civic authorities in the cities, patronage by religious entities and, underlying all this, the role of the principal professional network the Van Neurenberg family which linked Northern and Southern architectural practice at that time. Cutting across these levels, the following questions were also addressed: antique versus modern, or the role of Italy in the introduction of an architectural language based on Antiquity; Baroque versus Classicism, or the major stylistic dichotomy separating North and South in current literature, and architect versus engineer, or the contemporary development of the architectural profession. From 1997 to 2000 the project was financed by the Vlaams-Nederlands Comité (VNC), which is a joint initiative of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) and the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen (FWO). In December 2000 the first results were publicly presented in the homonymous international symposium at Leuven, also financially supported by the VNC. The authors greatly benefited from the comments of all the presenters and participants, and in particular from the summing-up by Uwe Albrecht and Piet Lombaerde. Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann s insightful evaluation, which placed this research in a much broader, non-netherlandish perspective, has been included in this book as an epilogue. Hopefully, it may point the way to future research. The subject matter of this book makes it a particularly fitting choice for the series Architectura Moderna, founded in the year 2000, since it is dedicated to Netherlandish architecture from the early modern period, set within a European context. The series intentionally carries a title that evokes the debate of antique versus modern, which is the focal point of Netherlandish architectural theory of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century and, not incidentally, also one of the major themes addressed in this book. The reader may catch the echo of well-known treatises, such as Hans Vredeman de Vries Architectura Oder Bauung der Antiquen auss dem Vitruvius (printed in Antwerp, 1577), Charles De Beste s Architectura. Dat is constlicke Bouwijnghen huijt die Antijcken Ende Modernen (written in Bruges between 1596 and 1600), and Salomon de Bray and Cornelis Danckertsz. s Architectura Moderna ofte VII

8 Preface Bouwinge van onsen Tyt (published in Amsterdam, 1631). These works actually constitute the backbone of the second part of the present book, and in common with it, the series not only focuses on the origin and reception of the theoretical tenets that underlie contemporary Netherlandish architecture, (see the first volume on The Reception of P.P. Rubens s Palazzi di Genova during the 17 th century in Europe: Questions and Problems, 2001, edited by Piet Lombaerde), but also welcomes studies on architectural patronage within a European perspective (see the second volume on Trade in Good Taste. Relations in Architecture and Culture between the Dutch Republic and the Baltic World in the Seventeenth Century, 2004, by Badeloch Noldus), and studies which explore Netherlandish construction history in all its aspects (see the third volume on Hans Vredeman de Vries and the Artes Mechanicae revisited, 2005, edited by Piet Lombaerde, and the fourth volume on The Architectural Network of the Van Neurenberg Family in the Low Countries ( ), 2006, by Gabri van Tussenbroek). Over the years, the authors have had the opportunity to discuss their findings with many colleagues from all over the world who have generously shared previously unknown material, visited buildings with them, corrected texts, or made it possible to present part of the work publicly. The authors particularly wish to thank: Uwe Albrecht, Frans Baudouin, Inge Bertels, Lex Bosman, Philippe Bragard, Monique Chatenet, Fernando Checa Cremades, Georgia Clarke, Thomas Coomans de Brachène, Thérèse Cortembos, Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Maarten Delbeke, Guy Delmarcel, Annemie De Vos, Luc Duerloo, Xander van Eck, Peter Fuhring, Piet Geleyns, Elske Gerritsen, Jean Guillaume, Hubertus Günther, Peter Hecht, Charles van den Heuvel, Gordon Higgott, Stephan Hoppe, Deborah Howard, Maurice Howard, Christoph Jobst, Annemarie Jordan, Matt Kavaler, Bert Van de Kerckhove, Piet Lombaerde, Pieter Martens, Ruud Meischke, Walter Melion, Hans Van Miegroet, Claude Mignot, Jean-Luc Mousset, Badeloch Noldus, Norbert Nußbaum, Elizabeth Pilliod, Eva Roëll, Margit Thøfner, Dirk Van de Vijver, Pieter Vlaardingerbroek, Hans Vlieghe, Dirk-Jan de Vries, Petra Zimmermann, and the staff of all the research libraries, archives and institutions the authors visited while working on the book. Illustration material was provided by the following collections: Amsterdam, Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Gemeentearchief and Rijksprentenkabinet; Antwerp, Archives of the Belgian Capuchins and Stadsarchief; Brussels, Algemeen Rijksarchief, KIK-IRPA, Museum Broodhuis, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België and Stadsarchief; Dordrecht, Museum Mr. Simon van Gijn; Ecouen, Musée de la Renaissance; Gent, Stadsarchief; Haarlem, Rijksarchief Noord Holland; s Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabants Museum; Heverlee, Archief Vlaamse Jezuïeten; Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; Leiden, Gemeente Archief; Lille, Musée des Beaux-Arts; London, British Library; London, National Map Library; Lübeck, Denkmalambt Hansestadt Lübeck; Luxembourg, Musée national d histoire et d art; Madrid, Patrimonio Nacional de España; Mechelen, Stadsarchief; Munich, Alte Pinakothek; New York, Metropolitan Museum; Paris, Bibliothèque Doucet (INHA), Bibliothèque Nationale and Fondation Custodia; Purmerend, Archief Waterschap de Beemster ; Turin, Archivio di Stato; Universiteit Gent; Universiteit Leiden; Universiteit Utrecht; Utrecht, Centraal Museum and Het Utrechts Archief; Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek; Vilvoorde, Archive of the convent of Discalced Carmelites; Vincennes, Service Historique de l Armée de Terre; Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek; Zeist, Rijksdienst voor Archeologie, Cultuurlandschap en Monumentenzorg. The authors are grateful for their help. Finally, the authors and editors also particularly want to thank the NWO for its generous financial support, which allowed the English text to be reviewed by P.G. Garvin, and the Universitaire Stichting van België for its subsidy for the illustrations. Krista De Jonge VIII