Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne (1589 – 12 November 1662), was a versatile

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

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 Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

. According to Houbraken he learned Latin in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. 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 ; , from ''gris'' 'grey') means in general any European painting that is painted in grey. History Giotto used grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua () and Robert Campin, Jan van Ey ...

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 painting, Flemish painter and Draughtsmanship, draughtsman. He was the younger son of the eminent Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish ...

and

Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder ( , ; ; – 9 September 1569) was among the most significant artists of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaking, printmaker, known for his landscape art, landscape ...

. His political painting ''

Fishing for Souls ''Fishing for Souls'' is a 1614 oil on panel painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Adriaen van de Venne in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.Eighty Years War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 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 Reformation, centralisation, exce ...

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

Schelde The Scheldt ( ; ; ) 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 Old English ("shallow" ...

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 Habsburg Spain, Spain and the Dutch Republic, agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609 and ended on 9 April 1621. While European powers like Kingdom of France, France began tre ...

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 on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

s of genre subjects, featuring peasants, beggars, thieves and fools as illustrations of current proverbs and sayings, mostly by

Jacob Cats Jacob Cats (10 November 1577 – 12 September 1660) was a Dutch poet, humorist, jurist and politician. He is most famous for his emblem books. Early years Jacob Cats was born on 10 November 1577 in Brouwershaven. Having lost his mother at ...

.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 ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

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 iden ...

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:Adriaen van de Venne - Woman and a jester - M.Ob.1720 MNW - National Museum in Warsaw.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 individual ...

) File:De zielenvisserij - Fishing for souls (Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne).jpg, ''

Fishing for Souls ''Fishing for Souls'' is a 1614 oil on panel painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Adriaen van de Venne in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 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 Reformation, centralisation, exc ...

(

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

) 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 Filippo Baldinucci (3 June 1625 – 10 January 1696) was an Italian art historian and biographer. Life Baldinucci is considered among the most significant Florentine biographers/historians of the artists and the arts of the Baroque period. ...

Artists in biographies by Filippo Baldinucci Filippo Baldinucci's ''Notizie de' Professori del Disegno, Da Cimabue in qua, Secolo V. dal 1610. al 1670. Distinto in Decennali'' (or ''Notice of the Professors of Design, from Cimabue to now, from 1610–1670'') was a major art biography of Baroq ...

, 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 Painters from Delft Painters from The Hague