Laurens van der Meulen, also Laureys or Laurent van der Meulen, known in England as Laurence Vander Meulen (1643–1719), was a Flemish sculptor, painter and frame-maker who, after training in his native Mechelen, worked for some time in England.Laurent van der Meulen
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 is best known there for having created the statue of King James II now in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

, together with the Flemish sculptor

Peter van Dievoet Peter van Dievoet (; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Peeter van Dievoet'', French language, French: ''Pierre van Dievoet'', Latin: ''Petrus''; 16611729) was a Flemish Baroque sculptor, statuary, wood carver and designer of ornamental architectural elem ...

, while working in the workshop of

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London church ...

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

, ''Anecdotes of painting in England: with some account of the principal artists; and incidental notes on other arts; collected by the late Mr.

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields ...

; and now digested and published from his original MSS. by Mr.

'', London, 1765, vol. III, p. 91 : "Gibbons had several disciples and workmen; .. Dievot of Brussels, and Laurens of Mechlin were principal journeymen — Vertue says they modelled and cast the statue I have mentioned in the privy-garden". According to David Green, in ''Grinling Gibbons, his work as carver and statuary'' (London, 1964), one Smooke said to Vertue that this statue "''was modelled and made by Laurence and Devoot (sic)''";

, ''Note Books'', ed. Walpole Society, Oxford, 1930–1947, vol. I, p. 82 : "Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys", and ''ibidem'' IV, 50: "Laurens a statuary of Mechlin ... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country". He is also known for his wood carvings of frames and medallions.Auguste Van Lokeren, ''Notice sur des cadres sculptés par Laurent Vandermeulen de Malines''
Messager des sciences historiques, 1836, pp. 54–61

Life

He was born in 1645 in

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

, the son of Pieter, originally from

Erondegem Erondegem is a sub-municipality of Erpe-Mere in Flanders, Belgium. It is located on the Molenbeek in the Denderstreek, southeast of East Flanders and belongs to the Arrondissement of Aalst. It is bordered by the sub-municipalities of Erpe and ...

, and Elisabeth Schuermans from Mechelen. At the time Mechelen was one of the prime centres of sculpture making in Flanders, next only to

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) 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 Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. He started training as a sculptor in the workshop of Pieter van der Stock and was registered in the Mechelen

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 ...

on 10 November 1665.Laurent van der Meulen
in: Van der Aa e.a., Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden vol. 12, 2 (1869), p. 732 Pieter van der Stock had himself started his traineeship only five years earlier under Coenraet van Kerckhoven.Emmanuel Neeffs, Histoire de la peinture et de la sculpture à Malines, Gand, imprimerie E. Vanderhaegen, 1876, Volume 2, pp. 219–224 He travelled to England in 1675 where he joined the London workshop of the (

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

-born) English sculptor Grinling Gibbons. Gibbons was mainly known as a sculptor for his fine carvings of floral motifs. Other experienced Flemish sculptors such as Arnold Quellin (the son of

Artus Quellinus II Artus Quellinus II or Artus Quellinus the Younger (alternative first name: Arnold; variation on family name: Quellijn, Quellyn, Quellien, Quellin, Quellinius) (between 10 and 20 November 1625 – 22 November 1700) was a Southern Netherlands, F ...

John Nost John Nost ( Dutch: Jan van Nost) (died 1729) was a Flemish sculptor who worked in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Life Originally from Mechelen in what is now Belgium, he moved to England in the second half of the 17th cent ...

, Anthony Verhuke and Peter van Dievoet also worked in Gibbon's London workshop as "servants", i.e. collaborators. As these Flemish artists were not trainees they were never entered in the Draper's records. In a document dated 1679 van der Meulen, Quellin and Verhuke are referred to as servants of Gibbons.David Esterly, ''Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving''
Harry N. Abrams, 30 April 2013, pp. 45, 176, 209, 219224 In the Gibbons workshop he worked on various commissions but the contributions of the various artists active in the workshop are not always identifiable. He is known to have collaborated with Peter van Dievoet on the creation of the statue of King James II during his stay in the workshop of

. Van der Meulen returned in 1687 to his home town and was admitted as a master sculptor of the Mechelen Guild of Saint Luke in 1689. He became a dean of the Guild in 1691. On 26 August 1691 (or possibly 31 January 1704)''Parenteel familie De Croes''
at Genealogie Rog(gh)eman(ns) he married Cornelia Theresia de Croes. His wife's sister Joanna Maria was married to the sculptor Jan Lucas Faydherbe, son of the prominent Mechelen sculptor

Lucas Faydherbe Lucas Faydherbe (also spelled Lucas Faijdherbe; he signed as Lucas Fayd'herbe) (Mechelen, 19 January 1617 – Mechelen, 31 December 1697)Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Sp ...

, the King of Spain, is believed to have ordered a mirror frame representing the union of Spain and France from him. This work was ultimately not delivered to the King as the Southern Netherlands ultimately passed from Spanish to Austrian control as a result of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, which ended with the

Peace of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

. He died in Mechelen on 26 October 1719 and was buried in the

St. Rumbold's Cathedral St. Rumbold's Cathedral (; ) is the Roman Catholic metropolitan archiepiscopal cathedral in Mechelen, Belgium, dedicated to Saint Rumbold, Christian missionary and martyr who founded an abbey nearby. His remains are rumoured to be buried insid ...

Work

Laurent van der Meulen - Medaillon with symbolic representation of hunting

He sculpted statues and was active as a painter, but was mainly a creator of decorative sculptures such as picture and mirror frames, allegorical medallions, tables, etc. He decorated many churches and houses with his ornaments composed of garlands of finely chiseled flowers similar to the fine carvings of a goldsmith. In addition, he created religious statues of saints and the Virgin and some busts, as is attested by listings in various catalogues. He carved four

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s representing the four elements which were intended as chimney decorations. He created in his decorative works complicated trophies, deeply carved and superimposed, with motifs of foliage, flowers, birds and crustaceans sometimes accompanied by putti. His execution of the human figure did not match the perfection of the still-life elements in these works. Some of his wood works were so subtly carved that the foliage and branches on the edges moved and quivered at the slightest movement. He was paid to make the foliage decorations on the columns of the main altar of the Church of Our Lady across the river Dijle in Mechelen. The Mechelen sculptors

Frans Langhemans Frans Langhemans (Mechelen, 1661 – 1720) was a Flemish sculptor mainly active in Mechelen.Frans Langhemans
at ...

and

Jan Frans Boeckstuyns Jan Frans Boeckstuyns, Boekstuijns or Boecxstuyns (Mechelen, c. 1650 – Mechelen 1734) was a Habsburg Netherlands, Flemish sculptor and architect who spent most of his active career in his native city Mechelen.Flemish Baroque sculptors 17th-century sculptors from the Holy Roman Empire Expatriates from the Holy Roman Empire Expatriates in England Painters from Mechelen Artists from Mechelen 1643 births 1719 deaths