Artus Quellinus I (1609-1668)Artus Quellinus the Elder was the son of the sculptor Erasmus Quellinus of Antwerp. Following an apprenticeship under his father, he travelled to Italy. He returned to his native Antwerp in 1639 and the following year he took over his father's workshop. From around 1648 Quellinus spent considerable time in Amsterdam, where he was commissioned to design the sculptural decorations of the new Town Hall (today's Palace on Dam Square). Many of the sculptures of the Town Hall decorations reveal the classicist influence that became increasingly popular in the mid-seventeenth century in the Northern Netherlands. Despite the numerous commissions that awaited him in the Republic, Quellinus decided to return to Antwerp in 1664. There he died four years later. |
