The most proliferous painter, draughtsman and printer (and also editor) Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne left a huge oeuvre of paintings, drawings and prints. In order to illustrate and depict the moralising poetry of his contemporary Jacob Cats (1577-1660), van de Venne drew numerous illustrations to Cats' publications. The collaboration between Cats and van de Venne started in 1618, when Cats published his first great work, the anthology of emblems known as Sinne- en Minnebeelden for which van de Venne drew numerous designs for the prints. This lifetime collaboration would last until Cats' death in 1660.[1] One of the most well-known publications is Cats' Houwelick, a manual telling women how they should behave on their path of love, courtship, marriage and motherhood and finally widowhood, with the edifying engravings by Adriaen Matham (1590-1660) and Cornelis van Kittensteyn (1598-1652) after drawings by van de Venne, edited by Adriaen's brother, the editor, printer and art dealer Jan Pietersz. van de Venne, first published in 1625.[2]
After apprenticeships to the painter and goldsmith Simon de Valck (active c.1588-1607) and Jeronymus van Diest (active c.1600-1605), who was a specialist in grisaille painting, Adriaen moved to Middelburg in 1614 where he lived until 1625, after which he moved to The Hague where he would live until his death in 1662.[3]
This drawing is closely comparable in style, format and subject-matter with four others, sold, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 4 November 2003, lots 37 and 38, which were all designs for illustrations to Jacob Cats' Hovwelyck ("Matrimony"), one of the most celebrated of this author's humourous but moralising poems. The writings of Cats provided Van de Venne with an immensely rich vein of source material for his illustrations, and the two men collaborated over a long period on many highly successful publications, the visual humour of Van de Venne complementing perfectly Cats' skill with words. Hovwelyck was first published in 1625 and went through many subsequent editions. Over a nine-year period, Van de Venne produced no fewer than three entirely different sets of illustrations for this publication, but the present composition does not appear amongst any of them. Nor does it seem to have been engraved as one of the many illustrations that Van de Venne designed for other books, usually but not always the works of Cats, so even though the drawing is indented for transfer, it seems that the design was never in fact used.
Recent years have seen an increased recognition of the extremely fine quality of Van de Venne's illustration designs, in which great wit and imagination combine with lively and skilful handling to produce works that offer a unique combination of beauty, humour and instruction.
Hollstein doesn't mention a print after our drawing by van de Venne nor any of the artists who worked after van de Venne.
[1] Edwin Buijsen, Ick soeck en vind, De schilderijen van Adriaen van de Venne.
Waanders, Zwolle, 2023.
[2] Jacob Cats, Houwelyck, dat is De gantsche gelegentheyt des Echten-Staets.
Jan Pietersz. van de Venne, Middelburg, 1625.
[3] Laurens J. Bol, Adriaen van de Venne. Davaco, Doornspijk, 1989. pp.99-141.
