Jerôme Duquesnoy (II)
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Jerôme Duquesnoy (II) or Hieronymus Duquesnoy (II) or the Younger (baptized 8 May 1602 – 28 September 1654) was a Flemish architect and sculptor who was particularly accomplished in portraits. He played an important role in the introduction of the
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style in Northern European sculpture.Matthias Depoorter, ''Jerôme Duquesnoy II''
at Baroque in the Southern Netherlands


Life


Training

He was born 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 ...
, the son of Jerôme Duquesnoy (I), court sculptor to Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella who jointly ruled the
Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...
. His father is now mainly known as the creator of the ''
Manneken Pis (; ) is a landmark bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a Nudity, naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the mid-15th century, ''Manneke ...
'' fountain in Brussels (1619).Biographical details
at the
Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...
He trained in his father's workshop along with his older brother
François François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...
.Lydie Hadermann-Misguich. "Jérôme Du Quesnoy (ii) (le jeune)"
Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 5 February 2014.
François went to work in Rome where he became rather successful.


Abroad

Jerôme travelled to join his older brother in Rome in 1621. During
Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...
’s period of residence in Rome, the brothers became friends with him and van Dyck painted their portraits. Jerôme worked with his brother on the
baldacchino A baldachin, or baldaquin (from ), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in ca ...
for Saint Peter's in Rome as is testified by a payment in his own name for that work received in 1627. There is no documentation on Jérôme's movements between 1627 and 1641.Denis Coekelberghs, 'A propos de Jérôme Du Quesnoy le jeune'
in: La Tribune de l'Art, 1 September 2006
The assumption has been that the brothers had a falling out and split ways after which Jerôme went to work primarily in Spain, where he received court commissions, and Portugal. None of his works from that period have been traced. An alternative view of the lack of details on Jérôme's whereabouts and residence in Spain between 1627 and 1641 holds that Jérôme had in fact not left Rome for a long period of time but had been working inside the workshop of his brother in Rome assisting him with his various commissions. The trip to Spain would therefore have only been rather brief and occurred probably in the year 1640. When in 1641 Jérôme is documented as working in the workshop of the Flemish goldsmith Andreas Ghysels in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, he may have been doing so in the execution of designs of his brother. After a stay of nine months in Florence, Duquesnoy returned to Rome. When François left on a trip to France at the invitation of the French king to become the director of a yet to be established department of painting and sculpture called ‘Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture’, Jerôme accompanied him. During the trip François died on 12 July 1643 in
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
of an illness from which he had already been suffering before he set out.Geert Debeuckelaere, ‘"For the reason that thou, Hieronymus Duquesnoy..."
, Allegations that Jerôme had murdered his brother out of jealousy have been refuted.


Return to Flanders

Instead of returning to Rome, Jerôme travelled on to his hometown Brussels where he soon received many commissions. He claimed the chests with art designs and models that had belonged to his brother and that had been sent on to Brussels. In 1644 he completed a sculpture of Saint Thomas destined for the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula (now Brussels' cathedral) and paid for by the
Council of Brabant The Council of Brabant was the highest law court in the historic Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, a ...
. He also became an assistant of the court architect and painter
Jacob Franquart Jacob Franquart or Jacob Franckaert the Younger (1582/83 – 6 January 1651 (buried)) was a Flemish architect, painter, print artist, draftsman, military engineer and poet.
. In 1646 he drew the design for the Chapel of Our Lady of Deliverance in the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula and directed its construction. Duquesnoy completed an additional three sculptures of apostles for the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula in 1646. He also made the images of the apostles
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
and
Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...
for the
Chapel Church The Church of Our Lady of the Chapel (; ), or the Chapel Church (; ), is a Catholic church in the Marolles/Marollen district of Brussels, Belgium. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Chapel. The church, in a Romanesque- Gothic transitional s ...
in Brussels. When Jacob Franquart died in 1651, Duquesnoy succeeded to his position at the Brussels court as "architecte, statuaire et sculpteur de la Cour" (Court architect, statue maker and sculptor). In that capacity Duquesnoy completed several portraits of
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts. He held a number of military commands, with limited success, a ...
, then governor of the Spanish Netherlands (now in the
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
, Vienna). He received the commission for the tomb monument of Bishop Antonius Triest to be placed in the choir of the
Saint Bavo Cathedral Saint Bavo's Cathedral, also known as Sint-Baafs Cathedral (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. The Gothic building is the seat of the Diocese of Ghent and is named for Saint Bavo of Ghent. It contains the well-known ''Ghent A ...
in
Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) 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 the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
. He also received a commission from the family
Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (, ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the mail, postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and ...
for a marble statue of
Saint Ursula Ursula (Latin for 'little she-bear') was a Romano-British virgin and martyr possibly of royal origin. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. Her feast day in the pre-1970 G ...
to be placed in the Saint Ursula Chapel in the Sablon Church in Brussels. In 1654 Duquesnoy was living in Ghent to complete the tomb monument of Antonius Triest. He was arrested for sexually abusing two boys of respectively 8 and 11 years old and tried for
sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...
. Appeals by his friends to the court in Brussels to transfer jurisdiction over the case from the local court in Ghent to the Royal Magistrate in Brussels were unsuccessful. He was sentenced to strangulation at the stake, followed by burning at the Koornmarkt, a public square in
Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) 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 the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
. The sentence was carried out on 28 September 1654. The tomb of Triest was left to be completed by others.


Work

Jerôme is generally regarded as a skilled sculptor, but a less original or innovative artist than his brother François. His artistic talent has been questioned based on assumptions surrounding the use for his own work of designs made by his brother, and in particular the designs for the bust (now in the
Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
in Paris) and the tomb of Bishop Triest. Already in 1642 Bishop Antonius Triest had approached François Duquesnoy in relation to this bust and monument and had sent along a painting of himself to be used as the basis for the bust. François had declined the commission because of his upcoming move to France but is still said to have made a few terracotta models for
putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...
for the monument. There is no documentation whether or how much work François had done on the design and execution of the bust before he died in 1643. It is therefore difficult to determine how much (if any) of it is of his hand. The work was probably completed in 1643 or 1644 and is signed by Jerôme. The very high quality of the execution of the portrait has led to speculation that his brother had a major (or even sole) role in its design and even execution. Philippe Malgouyres: Le buste d'Antoine Triest (1576–1657), évêque de Gand, par les frères Duquesnoy, entre au Louvre, in: La Revue du Louvre et des musées de France, 2000, n° 4,p.15-17 It is likely that the design of the tomb monument itself, which was made almost a decade later, was by Jerôme's own hand. The monument is placed in an architectural frame of black and white marble and depicts Mary and Christ looking down on the effigy of the Bishop reclining on a sarcophagus. The portrait of the Bishop in the monument is particularly fine although some have compared it unfavourably with the earlier bust of the Bishop. He worked in the baroque style with classicistic tendencies pioneered by his brother. One of his most successful works is the marble statue of a kneeling Saint Ursula placed in the Saint Ursula Chapel in the Sablon Church in Brussels. His style can be clearly seen in the marble depicting the ''Rape of Ganymede'' (
Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History The Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History (''LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte'') is an arts and cultural museum in Münster, Germany. Collections and Specializations The museum's collection includes: * Late Gothic ...
) Jerôme Duquesnoy the Younger, ''Raub des Ganymed''
at the LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duquesnoy, Jerome (II) Flemish Baroque sculptors Flemish Baroque architects 17th-century births 1654 deaths People executed by strangulation People executed for sodomy Artists from Brussels