Salomon Vredeman de Vries (1556 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 ...

– 1604 in

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 ...

), was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

painter and draughtsman who specialised in

architectural painting Architectural painting (also Architecture painting) is a form of Genre art, genre painting where the predominant focus lies on architecture, including both outdoor and interior views. While architecture was present in many of the earliest painting ...

Life

He was the eldest son of the Dutch-born architect, painter and engineer

Hans Vredeman de Vries Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604 ...

.Biographical details of Salomon Vredeman de Vries
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 ...

His father was at the time of Salomon's birth residing in

, from which he would flee to Antwerp in 1564 to escape the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

.Biographical details of Hans Vredeman de Vries
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History. He trained with his father. It is believed he lived in

at the end of his life as this is the place where he died.

Work

His father was as a painter interested in perspective and therefore he painted mainly architectural paintings. He passed this skill and interest on to his son Salomon who painted almost exclusively architecture paintings. Little more is known of the works of Salomon. He is known to have collaborated with his father and younger brother

Paul Vredeman de Vries Paul Vredeman de Vries (Antwerp, 1567 – Amsterdam, 1617), was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and draughtsman who specialised in architectural paintings and, in particular, church interiors. Life He was a son of the Dutch people, Dutc ...

in the completion of commissions.Madeleine Van De Winckel. "Vredeman de Vries, Hans." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.
/ref> In 1602 he obtained the commission to work on the decoration of the organ of the

Dom Tower of Utrecht The Dom Tower ( ) of Utrecht is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, at 112.32 metres (368,5 feet) in height. It is considered the symbol of Utrecht. The tower was part of St. Martin's Cathedral, also known as the Dom Church, and w ...

. Together with

Adam Willaerts Adam Willaerts (21 July 1577 – 4 April 1664) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography Willaerts (occasionally ''Willarts'', ''Willers'') was born in London to Flemish parents who had fled from Antwerp for religious reasons. By 1585 the f ...

he signed on 14 August of that year the contract for this commission.Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
/ref> The contract specified that the interiors of the organ shutters had to represent a ‘church in perspective’, life-size figures of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

with his harp and

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...

with an organ. The exterior of the organ case had to be decorated with painted grotesques, which was a specialty of the Vredeman de Vries workshop. It is not entirely clear which parts of the commission were to be executed by Salomon and this contract also does not shed any light on the question as to whether he was at that time residing in Utrecht.

References

1556 births 16th-century Flemish painters 1604 deaths Flemish draughtsmen {{Flemish-painter-stub