(Antwerp 1634–1715 Mechelen)
Women decorating a Herma,
oil on canvas, 250 x 300 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Belgium

We are grateful to Jean-Pierre De Bruyn, who confirmed the attribution of the present painting to Jan Erasmus Quellinus (private communication, 24 March 2017). He dates the painting to circa 1680.

Jan Erasmus Quellinus was a member of the famous Quellinus family of artists which includes his father Erasmus Quellinus and the sculptor Artus Quellinus. As evident in the present work, Jan Erasmus’ style is closely related to his father’s classicism linking it also with the works of Paolo Veronese from whom he borrowed grandeur and various dynamic details. Unlike his father he also included grand architectural elements which were inspired by Palladian architecture that he saw in Italy. The Herma sculpture in the present work is employed as such an architectural device.

Jan Erasmus stayed in Rome from 1657-1659. It was in this city that he joined the ‘Bentveughels’, a group of Dutch and Flemish artists. It was common practice for every member to receive ‘bent name’ and he became known by the nickname ‘Seederboom’ (cedar tree). From c. 1660-61 he lived in Venice which is where he came under the influence of Veronese’s paintings. Back in Antwerp he joined the Guild of Saint Luke and married the daughter of the painter David Teniers the Younger. It was in this period that he established himself as a successful artist and by 1680 he worked in Vienna for the Habsburg court as a court painter to Emperor Leopold I.