Carved in the round and mounted on a base of giallo antico.¹¹Cf. G. Borghini (ed.), Marmi antichi, Rome 1998, pp. 214-15 (no. 65).

…; ? collection Joachim von Sandrart (1606-1688), Rome and Amsterdam, before 1638; ? his sale, Amsterdam, 1645;²²Von Sandrart himself states that he sold his entire art collection when leaving Amsterdam for Munich in 1645, see R.A. Peltzer (ed.), Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey-künste von 1675, Munich 1925, p. 33.…; collection Lambert ten Kate (1674-1731), Amsterdam, first recorded in 1711;³³Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, Merkwürdige Reisen durch Niedersachsen, Holland und Engelland, vol. 3, Ulm und Memmingen, 1753-54, pp. 651-52 (19 March 1711). The stated provenance that follows hereafter is derived in part from L. Brummel, ‘Twee teruggevonden werken van François Duquesnoy’, Oud Holland 59 (1942), pp. 97-101. his sale, Amsterdam (Thirion), 16 June 1732, p. 78, nos. 1 and 2, fl. 1,400 for both, to Valerius Röver (1686-1739), Delft;⁴⁴Twee marmeren Koppen, door Fr. Quesnoy, anders Fiamingo genaemt; op marmere voeten; en op houte Pedestallen, zie daervan de Beschryving in het Discours preliminair sur le beau idéal; dat voor het Fransche Werk van de Mrs. Richardson uitgaet, p. XXI&c. (Two marble Heads, by Fr. Quesnoy, otherwise called Fiamingo; on marble feet; and on wooden Pedestals, see thereof the Description in the Discours preliminair sur le beau ideal; which precedes the French Work by [Father and Son] Richardson). Cf. the sale catalogue of the Antonie Rutgers collection, Amsterdam (Ph. van der Schley), 1 December 1778, p. 113, no. 1: Een Grieksch Philosoophs hoofd of Buste, verbeeldende, zo men meend, Pindarus; naar het Grieksche Origineel, in ‘t paleis van Justini, te Romen. Zie de Gallery van Justiniaan, en de Oudheeden van Bast. Kennet, fol. 30. ---. Dit Kunststuk is gehouwen in Marmer, ruim Levensgrootte, staande op een houte Pedestal; zynde de wederga van die twee in kunst vermaarde Busten, welken in Amsterdam 1732, op de Verkooping, van wylen den Kunstlievenden Heere Lambert te Kate, zyn verkogt, te zamen voor veertien honderd Guldens, aan den Heere Valerius de Rover; en geplaatst zyn geworden in zyn beroemd Kunst-Kabinet te Delft. Zie verder hier over Richardson Traité de la Peinture, Discours Preliminaire XXXI.(A Greek Philosopher’s head or Bust, depicting, as is maintained, Pindarus; after the Greek Original, in the palace of Justinian, in Rome. See the Gallery van Justinian, and the Antiquities of Bast. Kennet, fol. 30. ---. This Artwork is sculpted in Marble, greater than Life-Size, standing on a wood Pedestal; being of equal quality to those two esteemed Busts in art, which in Amsterdam 1732, at the Sale, of the deceased Art-Loving Heere Lambert te Kate, were sold, together for fourteen hundred Guilders, to the Heere Valerius de Rover; and were placed in his famed Art-Cabinet in Delft. Regarding this, see also Richardson Traité de la Peinture, Discours Preliminaire XXXI.)Another pair of marble Philosophers is listed in the sale catalogue of the Jonas Witsen collection, Amsterdam, 16 August 1790, p. 29, no. 1: Twee capitale Hoofden op Pedestallen, verbeeldende Philosophen, konstig en meesterlyk in marmer gewerkt (Two capital Heads on Pedestals, depicting Philosophers, artfully and masterfully sculpted in marble, for 75 guilders to an anonymous buyer). his son, Matthys Röver (1719-1803), Delft, 1739; his sale, Leiden (Haak/Socios) 1806, p. 341, no. 2,⁵⁵In the sale catalogue entitled Bibliotheca Röveriana sive catalogus librorum qui studiis inservierunt Matthiae Röveri (Leiden 1806), p. 341, the two Philosophers busts are listed as: Deux têtes de philosophes du célèbre Duquesnoy, connu sous le nom de Francesco Fiammingo, 17 pouces de haut. Ces deux pièces ont eté dans le Cabinet de M.L.H. te Kate à Amsterdam. On trouve la desription de ces deux tête dans son ‘Discours préliminaire sur le Beau Idéal’, qu’il a mis à la tête de l’ouvrage intitulé ‘Traité de la Peinture et de la Sculpture par M.M.Richardson Père et Fils. (Two heads of philosophers by the famous Duquesnoy, known as Francesco Fiammingo, 17 inches high. These two pieces were in the Cabinet of M.L.H. te Kate in Amsterdam. We find the description of these two heads in his Discours préliminaire sur le Beau Idéal (Preliminary Discourse on the Beautiful Ideal), which he placed at the front of the work entitled Traité de la Peinture et de la Sculpture par M.M. Richardson Père et Fils (Treatise on Painting and Sculpture by M.M. Richardson Father and Son). And in a footnote: Ces Chefs d’oeuvres ont eté achétés par le père de M. Röver à la vente de M. Ten Kate 1400 flor. de Hollande (These Masterpieces were bought by the father of Mr Röver at the sale of Mr Ten Kate 1400 Dutch florins). Copy RKD. L. Brummel, ‘Twee teruggevonden werken van François Duquesnoy’, Oud Holland 59 (1942), pp. 97-101, esp. p. 99; J.G. van Gelder, ‘‘Beelden en rariteijten’ in de verzameling Valerius Röver’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 31 (1980), pp. 341-54, esp. pp. 341-43; E. Bergvelt and R. Kistemaker (eds.), De wereld binnen handbereik: Nederlandse kunst- en rariteitenverzamelingen, 1585-1735, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Amsterdams Historisch Museum) 1992, no. 168. acquired by the dealer Isaac Smit; from whom acquired by Paul Ivan Hogguer (1760-1816), Amsterdam, 1806; his wife Anna Maria Hogguer-Ebeling, 1816; her sale, Amsterdam (P. van der Schley et al.), 18 August 1817, p. 121, nos. 6 and 7,⁶⁶No. 6: Het hoofd van een Wijsgeer, met langen baard en antieken hoofdband; fraai en meesterachtig in marmer gehakt, door F. Quisnoi, op rood marmeren voetstukje, hoog 26 duimen. (The head of a Philosopher, with long beard and antique headband; beautifully and masterfully sculpted in marble, by F. Quisnoi, on red marble pedestal, height 26 thumbs.) No. 7: Een als voren, verbeeldende het Hoofd van een Griekschen Wijsgeer, met een fraai uitgewerkten baard en kaal voorhoofd; door denzelven, met het rood marmeren voetstukje hoog 24 duimen. (One such as the preceding, depicting the Head of a Greek Philosopher, with a beautifully executed beard and bald forehead; by the same, with the red marble pedestal height 24 thumbs). fl. 105 and fl. 85, to the dealer and painter Charles Howard Hodges (1764-1837) for Emanuel Sandoz (1758-1818), Delft;⁷⁷For Hodges see A.C.W. Baron van der Feltz, Charles Howard Hodges (1764-1837), Assen 1982, pp. 16-17. his sale, The Hague (Scheurleer), 20-30 December 1819, pp. 171-72, no. 140,⁸⁸Twee uitmuntende marmere koppen of borstbeelden, verbeeldende Plato en Aristoteles, door den bekwaame Franciscus Quesnoy vervaardigd, zeer kragtig en meesterlijk behandeld, staande op marmere voetstukken; hoog 2 voet. (Two outstanding marble heads or busts, depicting Plato and Aristotle, produced by the skilled Franciscus Quesnoy, very powerfully and masterfully rendered, standing on marble pedestals; height 2 feet). fl. 100, to the bookseller J. Scheurleer;⁹⁹Copy Royal Library, The Hague. from whom, fl. 142.75, to the Royal Library, The Hague; transferred to the museum, 1986

Object number: BK-1986-44-B-1

Credit line: On loan from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek

In 1711, this pair of marble busts – most likely depicting the Greek philosophers Aristotle (shown here) and Plato (BK-1986-44-A) – is documented in the art collection of the Amsterdam scholar Lambert ten Kate (1674-1731). They are mentioned in the travel journal of the German traveller Von Uffenbach, who upon viewing Ten Kate’s collection described the pair as follows: ‘In the morning we went to see Mr Lambert Tenkaaten, a Mennonite. Although he is actually a grain merchant, he is also a very courteous, enquiring and withal scholarly man. First, he showed us a fine collection of bas-reliefs, casts, small and large sculptures […]. He also had two marble busts portraying Sophocles and Plato, very well made, but not from Antiquity’.¹⁰¹⁰Morgens fuhren wir zu Herrn Lambert Tenkaaten, einem Mennonisten. Er handelt zwar eigentlich mit Korn, ist aber ein sehr höflicher, curiöser und dabey gelehrter Mann. Er zeigte uns erstlich einen schönen Vorrath von bas reliefs, Abgüssen, Bildern und Statuen (…). Er hatte ferner zwey Brustbilder von Marmor, den Sophocles, und Plato vorstellend, seher wohl gemacht, aber nich antique. Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, Merkwürdige Reisen durch Niedersachsen, Holland und Engelland, vol. 3, Ulm and Memmingen, 1753-54, pp. 651-52 (19 March 1711).

While not mentioned by Von Uffenbach explicitly, at this time the two philosopher busts were attributed to the famous Flemish-born sculptor François Du Quesnoy (1597-1643), who had been mainly active in Rome. The earliest attribution of the busts to Du Quesnoy is found in Ten Kate’s Verhandeling over het denkbeeldige schoon der schilders, beeldhouwers en dichters (Treatise on the Ideal Beauty of Painters, Sculptors and Poets), a manuscript from 1720. In his treatise, Ten Kate identifies the bald philosopher as Plato and the pendant bust with hairband erroneously as Sophocles or Xenophon.¹¹¹¹‘Among the contemporary Sculptors, we have a Baccio Bandinelli, who shows in his drawings that he has understood the special form and variety of the body parts better than Michel Angelo (sic!). Yet there is one who has proved himself even better in this area of Art: I am referring to the esteemed François de Quesnoy, known by the name Fiammingo. (…) This esteemed Fiamingo is ideal in every way: one observes in his works a sublime merit, and an Ordering of the parts that surpasses expectations. I could demonstrate this in two beautiful heads, which I have of his. The one is very recognizable, as a great Philosopher, resembling Plato, depicted with a bald head; displaying a serious contemplation, and a strength of spirit capable of the most elevated thoughts, all powerful and at the same time very delicate. (…) The other head depicts not unbefitting a Poet, resembling Sophocles, or more so perhaps a field commander and at the same time wise Philosopher, of a soft and pleasing countenance, resembling Xenophon.’ (Onder de heedendaagsche Beeldhouwers hebben wy een Baccio Bandinelli, welke in zyne Tekeningen toont dat hy de byzondere gestaltens en verscheidenheid der leden beter dan Michel Angelo verstaan heeft. Doch men vind’er een, die zich van dit deel der Kunst nog beter heeft gekweeten: Ik meen de vermaarde François de Quesnoy, onder den naam van Fiammingo bekend. (…) Deze vermaarde Fiamingo is overal denkbeeldig: men vindt in zyne werken eene verrukkende welgeschiktheid, en eene Schakeering der deelen die de verwachting te boven gaat. Dit zoude ik kunnen aantoonen in twee fraaije koppen, welke ik van hem hebbe. De eene is zeer achtbaar, als een groot Wysgeer, gelyk Plato, met een kaal hoofd verbeeld; aantoonende een ernstige overdenking, en eene kracht van geest tot de allerverhevenste gedachten bekwaam, alles krachtig en tevens zeer teder. (…) De andere kop verbeeldt niet oneigenaartig eenen Dichter, gelyk Sophocles, of eerder eenen Veldoverste en tevens verstandigen Wysgeer, van een zacht en aanminnig gelaat, gelyk Xenophon. Quoted from the edited text in H. Miedema, Denkbeeldig schoon: Lambert ten Kates opvattingen over beeldende kunst, Leiden 2006, vol. 2, p. 224. A French-language edition of the same treatise was published in 1728 under the title Discours préliminaire sur le Beau Idéal, intended as an appendix accompanying the third volume of Traité de la peinture et de la sculpture by father and son Jonathan Richardson, whose treatise Ten Kate translated and published himself.¹²¹²The text is printed in its entirety alongside the original Dutch version in H. Miedema, Denkbeeldig schoon: Lambert ten Kates opvattingen over beeldende kunst, Leiden 2006, vol. 2. See also L. Brummel, ‘Twee teruggevonden werken van François Duquesnoy’, Oud Holland 59 (1942), pp. 97-101, esp. p. 100, for the whole passage. J.G. van Gelder, ‘“Beelden en rariteijten” in de verzameling Valerius Röver’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 31 (1980), pp. 341-54, esp. p. 341. The two busts are also mentioned in the English-language edition of Richardson’s treatise (published six years prior), written after the young Richardson’s viewing of the Ten Kate collection in the fall of 1716. Here the works were praised as ‘two very fine Heads of Fiammingo’.¹³¹³Jonathan Richardson (father and son), An Account of the Statues, Bas-reliefs, Drawings, and Pictures in Italy, France, etc, with Remarks, London 1722, pp. 540-43. See L. Brummel, ‘Twee teruggevonden werken van François Duquesnoy’, Oud Holland 59 (1942), pp. 97-101, esp. p. 100; J.G. van Gelder, ‘“Beelden en rariteijten” in de verzameling Valerius Röver’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 31 (1980), pp. 341-54, esp. p. 341 and H. Miedema, Denkbeeldig schoon: Lambert ten Kates opvattingen over beeldende kunst, Leiden 2006, vol. 2, p. 17. The Richardsons even went so far as to assign the busts a place of distinction, describing them as high points in Du Quesnoy’s oeuvre, second only to his two most important works made in Rome.¹⁴¹⁴In the French edition: Mais les plus beaux Morceaux de tous ceux qu’on peut voir de cet excellent génie, si l’on considère la dignité du sujet aussi-bien que l’excellence de l’ouvrage, ce sont deux têtes de philosophes, que j’ai vues entre une infinité d’autres belles choses, dans le cabinet de Monsieur te Kate à Amsterdam. Quoted from L. Brummel, ‘Twee teruggevonden werken van François Duquesnoy’, Oud Holland 59 (1942), pp. 97-101, esp. p. 100; J.G. van Gelder, ‘Lambert ten Kate als kunstverzamelaar’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 139-86, esp. pp. 163-64; J.G. van Gelder, ‘“Beelden en rariteijten” in de verzameling Valerius Röver’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 31 (1980), pp. 341-54, esp. p. 341. Lastly, the pair is also mentioned in Ten Kate’s correspondence with the painter Hendrik van Limborch (1681-1759), in which various matters of art theory and physiognomy were addressed. In these letters, the two busts were introduced as test cases in Ten Kate’s ‘applied physiognomy’ and proportion theory. Formulating detailed descriptions of the curvature and proportions of the faces, he further argued his previous identification of the two busts as Plato and Sophocles or Xenophon.¹⁵¹⁵‘I finally undertook the measuring ‘Of the Curvature Angles of the Countenance from the front’ on my two Marble Heads by Quesnoy, as the difference of growth in the Bone etc. can be observed with so much distinction, and so many Sensitivities, so exquisite, and clearer to be compared to any Antique I might present: being the One Head, referred to as PLATO, exceptionally stately, and broad-surfaced, and refined in its Essence, and the other, which I refer to as XENOPHON of SOPHOCLES, being less noble, more gaunt, and more amply projecting in Countenance. Here I also send you: a Copy of my work. H. Miedema, Denkbeeldig schoon: Lambert ten Kates opvattingen over beeldende kunst, Leiden 2006, vol. 1, p. 209 and vol. 2, pp. 233-37 (letter from Ten Kate to Van Limborch of 13 October 1725). (Ik ondernam eindelyk de meting ‘Van de Wendinghoeken van ‘t Aengezicht van voren’ op mijne twee Marmore Koppen van Quesnoy, daer ‘t onderscheid van groei in ‘t Gebeente &c, te vinden is met zo veel onderscheid, en zo veel Gevoeglyk-eigen, zo uitnemend, en klaerder om te vergelyken als ik eenig Anticq weet aen te toonen; zynde de Eene Kop, die men PLATO noemt, bij uitstek statig, en breed-vlak, en fynkantig van Wezen, en de andere, dien ik XENOPHON of SOPHOCLES noeme, minder nobel, spigtiger, en rondscheutiger vooruitschietende van Aengezicht (is). Hiernevens zende ik UwE: een Afschrift van mijn arbeid.). He also enclosed two signed cross-section drawings of the busts, including all calibration points as well as mutual differences in size and form.

There is sufficient reason to believe that the two philosopher busts were in the collection of the painter Joachim von Sandrart (1606-1688) by as early as 1638.¹⁶¹⁶F. Scholten, ‘Sandrart’s Philosophers on the “Amsterdam Parnassus”’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 57 (2009), pp. 326-41, esp. pp. 335-37. Before moving to Amsterdam, Von Sandrart had lived in Rome (1629-1635). There he belonged to a small circle of artists – mostly non-Italian, among them Du Quesnoy – who devoted their time to the intensive study of Antique culture. The members of this so-called Antiquität-Academie organized themselves along the lines of an art academy. It was through this association that Sandrart became close friends with Du Quesnoy, then also having the opportunity to acquire the busts directly from the sculptor.

One indication that the two busts arrived in Amsterdam via Sandrart is an antique philosopher’s bust in the Galleria Giustiniana, a work displaying facial features remarkably similar to the pair of busts in Lambert ten Kate’s possession (cf. the top bust in RP-P-OB-23.339),¹⁷¹⁷Galleria Giustiniana del Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, Rome 1640, vol. 2, pl. 38; the herm bust in in Matham’s engraving is today itself preserved at the Musei Capitolini, Rome (inv. no. MC 0594) as a Roman portrait of Pythagoras after a Greek original dating from the mid-5th century BC. as can be seen in Theodoor Matham’s engraving of this sculpture. Sandrart oversaw Vincenzo Giustiniani’s famous collection for several years and could easily have provided Du Quesnoy access to view the works held there. The busts also left their mark on Sandrart’s own oeuvre, in the form of tronies of old, bearded men, often depicting classical figures.¹⁸¹⁸C. Klemm, Joachim von Sandrart: Kunstwerke und Lebenslauf, Berlin 1986, nos. 15 (Asclepius), 35 (January), 49 (Joseph), 53 (apostle), 56 (Saturn), 57 (Archimedes), 60 (Archimedes), 68 (Joseph and Joachim), 70 (philosopher writing), 91 (Pythagoras) and 92 (Moses). The earliest known example of these heads was a portrait of Asclepius painted in Amsterdam in 1638.¹⁹¹⁹See RKD-imagesno. 268629. Also supporting a link between the busts and Sandrart are the poems that Joost van den Vondel wrote in 1644, centring on works of art in the German painter’s possession, as the two men were close friends. In his poem entitled Op Plato en Aristoteles (On Plato and Aristotle), Vondel praises two marble busts of these Greek philosophers, famed for the wisdom they exuded.²⁰²⁰Wat wijze Godheên ziet men hier? / De Meester met zijn Hoofdscholier: / Het ene hoofd wil Plato zijn, / Zo goddelijk, dat zelfs Jupijn, / Gestegen uit de goude zaal, / Zijn wijsheid zelfs, in Plato’s taal, / Zou leren d’eerste schoolmeestres (= Minerva). / Het ander, Aristoteles, / Verdient, indien ik ‘t aanzicht ken, / Des Groten Alexanders pen / Te voeren, zo het handen had. / Hun wijsheid schijnt in steen gevat. (What wise Divinities have we here? / The Master with his finest pupil: / The one head must be Plato, / So divine, that Jove himself, / Risen from the golden hall, / Would even teach, in Plato’s tongue, / His wisdom to the first schoolma’am (= Minerva). / The other, Aristotle, / Deserves, if I know this look, / To guide Great Alexander’s pen, / Had he but hands to do so. / Their wisdom seems captured in stone.), see Vondel: Volledige dichtwerken en oorspronkelijk proza (ed. A. Verwey, reprint with introduction by M.B. Smits-Veldt and M. Spies), Amsterdam 1986 (original ed. Becht 1937), p. 939: Op schilderkunst, tekeningen en marmerbeelden ten huize van Sandrart (after the 1644 edition). By his own account, Sandrart sold his entire collection of art in 1645, when he moved from Amsterdam to Munich.²¹²¹R.A. Peltzer (ed.), Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey-künste von 1675, Munich 1925, p. 33: Er (= Sandrart) hat aber daselbst alle seine Kunstwerke auf inständiges Bitten und Anhalten der Kunstliebhabere in Amsterdam gegen hochwichtigem baarem Wehrt hinterlassen, massen ihme von dem vorgedachten Swedischen Abgesandten Herrn von Spiring 3500 Gulden für zwey Buch Italiänischer Handrisse, in dem Ausruff aber 4555 Gulden für andere von einem und andern erkaufte Handrisse und Kupferstiche, und für die noch übrighabende rare Gemälde 14566 baare Gulden bezahlt worden. (He (= Sandrart) had, however, at the express request and urging of art lovers in Amsterdam, left behind all his works of art at very high prices, including two books of Italian sketches for 3,500 guilders to the aforementioned Swedish envoy Mr Spiering, and sold to various people by auction other sketches and engravings for 4,555 guilders, and 14,566 guilders cash was paid for the remaining rare paintings.). The two busts therefore also remained behind in Amsterdam. The identity of the person who acquired the busts is unfortunately not known. Most likely is that they were held in the art cabinet of another Amsterdam collector, before ultimately entering Lambert ten Kate’s possession at the onset of the eighteenth century.

The eighteenth-century attribution of the present two busts to Du Quesnoy was revised in 1980, 1981 and 2005, respectively by Van Gelder, Schlegel and Boudon-Machuel. Orfeo Boselli (1597-1667) was introduced as a possible candidate, on the basis of stylistic parallels to a monumental, signed statue of St Benedict in the Sant’Ambrogio alla Massima in Rome (![fig. a][fig. a]).²²²²J.G. van Gelder, ‘“Beelden en rariteijten” in de verzameling Valerius Röver’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 31 (1980), pp. 341-54, esp. p. 342 and a letter from Dr Ursula Schlegel (Skulpturengalerie, Berlin) to Willy Halsema-Kubes (RMA), dated 22 July 1981: Unmittelbar vergleichbares in dem bis jetzt bekannten Oeuvre Duquesnoys gibt es nicht. Für die Marmorbehandlung steht vielleicht der Kopf des tanzenden Satyr, jetzt im V & A am nächsten. Noch ähnlicher ist allerdings das in so viele Strähnen zerlegte Haar der Statue des hl. Benedikt von Orfeo Boselli in S. Ambrogio alla Massima in Rom, die nach Duquesnoys Entwurf gearbeitet wurde. Allein aufgrund der Fotos (!) würde ich Ihre Köpfe diesem interessanten Schüler zuschreiben. (There is nothing directly comparable in Duquesnoy’s heretofore known oeuvre. With respect to the treatment of the marble, the head of the dancing Satyr may be the closest, now at the V&A. Even more similar, however, is the way the hair separates into so many strands on the statue of St. Benedict by Orfeo Boselli in S. Ambrogio alla Massima in Rome, a work made according to Duquesnoy’s design. Based on the photos (!) alone, I would ascribe your heads to this interesting pupil). Also M. Boudon-Machuel, François du Quesnoy 1597-1643, Paris 2005, p. 360, nos. R.143 and R.144. Her assessment is based on old photographs (versus autopsy). As early as the seventeenth century, this statue was previously thought to be a work carved by Boselli after a design by Du Quesnoy.²³²³Filippo Titi, Studio di Pittura, Scultura ,& Architettura nelle chiese di Roma, Rome 1675, p. 56: e la statua di S. Ambrogio nell’ultima Cappella fù formata nello stucco da Orfeo Buselli col modello di Francesco Fiammingo. See also M. Fransolet, François du Quesnoy, sculpteur d’Urbain VIII, 1597-1643, Brussels 1942, p. 126. This is very well possible, as Boselli is known to have closely worked with the Flemish sculptor and ¬– again by his own account – to have even served as his apprentice.²⁴²⁴E. Lingo, François Duquesnoy and the Greek Ideal, New Haven 2007, pp. 19, 27, 28, 44, 78, 82, 89-94 and P. Dent Weil, Orfeo Boselli, ‘Osservazioni della Scoltura Antica’: An Edition of a 17th-Century Manuscript Written by a Roman Sculptor, Florence 1978. The agreement between the faces on the philosopher busts and that of Benedict is striking, most notably in the lively treatment of the beard and the form and proportions of the face, including the straight nose and the high cheekbones. More problematic, by contrast, are comparisons to other works by Boselli, such as his portraits of Girolamo Colonna I (1651) and Paolo Giordano Orsini II (c. 1655), or his busts of Emperor Hadrian and a Roman lady (both 1663).²⁵²⁵Cf. C. Benocci, Paolo Giordano II Orsini nei ritratti di Bernini, Boselli, Leoni e Kornmann, Rome 2006, pp. 73-75 and figs. 33, 58, 59. All of these works are rather dry and schematic in execution and possess nothing of the subtle and varied liveliness observable in the surface treatment of the two marble philosophers and the St Benedict. In these latter works, Boselli displays his talent as a competent, though fairly unimaginative sculptor, who chiefly elaborates on the inventions of others. That he was capable of creating such an appealing pair of philosopher’s busts on his own therefore seems unlikely.²⁶²⁶See also Halsema-Kubes in E. Bergvelt and R. Kistemaker (eds.), De wereld binnen handbereik: Nederlandse kunst- en rariteitenverzamelingen, 1585-1735, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Amsterdams Historisch Museum) 1992, p. 86: ‘The busts could have been sculpted by the apprentice after a design by Dusquenoy’.

That the two philosophers and the St Benedict are all three of Du Quesnoy’s invention is confirmed by stylistic similarities to the sculptor’s documented works. The form of the face, the ‘fluttering’ beard and the lively modelling are clearly derived from the countenance of Du Quesnoy’s St Andrew (St Peter’s Basilica, Rome) – even if the rendering of the latter displays far greater suffering and drama – whereas a striking agreement can be discerned when comparing the bald philosopher’s countenance to that of Du Quesnoy’s famous St Susanna: the straight nose, the sharply defined eyelids, and the characteristic mouth with its large lower lip and short, wavy upper lip.²⁷²⁷M. Boudon-Machuel, François du Quesnoy 1597-1643, Paris 2005, p. 131, fig. 127. Lastly to be noted is the great similarity of the philosophers’ faces to that of several monumental apostle statues by Jerôme du Quesnoy II (1602-1654), François’s brother, made for the Brussels cathedral (both 1644).²⁸²⁸P. Philippot, D. Coekelberghs, P. Loze and D. Vautier, L’Architecture religieuse et la sculpture baroques dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux et la principauté de Liège: 1600-1770, Sprimont 2003, pp. 827, 829. Jérôme worked closely with his brother in Rome. After his death in 1643, François’s artistic legacy was overseen by his brother, who had himself returned to Brussels in 1642. Apart from the somewhat fuller beards, the commonalities shared by the marble philosophers’ faces and those of Jérôme du Quesnoy’s saints Paul and Bartholomew are striking. It therefore seems quite conceivable that he was inspired by models of the two philosophers from the legacy of his elder brother.

In the art historical literature, virtually no consensus exists regarding the identity of the philosopher pair. Since Vondel’s poem of 1644, the bald man without the hairband has generally been identified as Plato, but later twice as Sophocles. The identity of the pendant has switched from Aristotle (Vondel), Sophocles (Von Uffenbach) and Xenophon (Ten Kate).²⁹²⁹For an overview, see M. Jonker, ‘Boselli’s Philosophers Identified as Socrates and Plato’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), pp. 175-82, esp. note 2. Jonker recently argued that Socrates is the figure depicted without the hairband, accompanied by Plato instead with the hairband.³⁰³⁰M. Jonker, ‘Boselli’s Philosophers Identified as Socrates and Plato’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), pp. 175-82. His interpretation was based on the seventeenth-century iconography of classical philosophers. Jonker nevertheless completely overlooks the history of the busts. Moreover, his proposal falls short of convincing, if only on the basis of a total absence of any clear-cut visual tradition at this time.³¹³¹F. Scholten, ‘Bald or Headband?’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), pp. 183-84. While there is no way of disproving that Vondel’s description of the philosopher with the hairband was indeed Plato – pace Jonker – the present identification adheres to that most commonly embraced in the existing literature: Aristotle with the hairband, Plato without.

A possible, eighteenth-century echo of the Aristoteles – excepting the omission of his headband – is the small head of a bearded man in ivory, attributed to Johann Ludwig Lücke (c. 1703-1780).³²³²J. Kappel, Elfenbeinkunst im Grünen Gewölbe zu Dresden, coll. cat. Dresden (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden) 2017, pp. 504-05 (no. V.34). A parallel is also observable with two expressive all’antica busts of Homer and Aristoteles, until 2020 held in the Earl of Derby’s collection at Knowsley Hall in the United Kingdom.³³³³My thanks to Dr Stephen Lloyd, curator of the Derby Collection, for bringing this Philosopher pair to my attention (written communication, 6 January 2020). See also sale London (Christie’s), 29 July 2020, no. 21 (as ‘Giuliano Finelli’, following independently made attributions by Nicholas Penny and myself). This pair was purchased in 1726 by James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby (1664-1736), as works ‘modelled by Bernini’ for £10, from one of his art agents, Hamlet Winstanley, who himself had acquired them in Rome during an art acquisition trip undertaken in the period 1723-1729 on Derby’s behalf. The technical similarity to the Amsterdam pair – above all in the treatment of the hair and skin – suggests that, likewise in this case, Boselli was responsible for their execution. Less probable is that he was the inventor: unlike the Amsterdam busts, the dynamic pose of the Knowsley Hall busts, with the head turned to the side, the expressive treatment of the beards and coiffures, and the more vivid rendering of the skin betray a model devised by a sculptor in Bernini’s immediate circle. Giuliano Finelli (1601-1653) is a plausible candidate, in part due to the striking similarity to a bust of the Pseudo-Seneca in Madrid, convincingly attributed to this sculptor.³⁴³⁴G. Montanari, ‘Un inedito per Giuliano Finelli: la testa dell Pseudo-Seneca del Museo del Prado’, Boletín del Museo del Prado 33 (2015), no. 51, pp. 52–59; F. Scholten and G. Swoboda (eds.), Caravaggio-Bernini: The Early Baroque in Rome, exh. cat. Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum)/Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2019-20, no. 69.

Frits Scholten, 2025

Vondel: Volledige dichtwerken en oorspronkelijk proza (ed. A. Verwey, reprint with introduction by M.B. Smits-Veldt and M. Spies), Amsterdam 1986 (original ed. Becht 1937), p. 939; Op schilderkunst, tekeningen en marmerbeelden ten huize van Sandrart (after the 1644 edition); Jonathan Richardson (father and son), An account of the Statues, Bas-reliefs, Drawings, and Pictures in Italy, France, etc, with Remarks, London 1722, pp. 540-43; Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach, Merkwürdige Reisen durch Niedersachsen, Holland und Engelland, vol. 3, Ulm und Memmingen, 1753-54, pp. 651-52 (entry of 19 March 1711); sale collection Antonie Rutgers, Amsterdam (Ph. van der Schley e.a.), 1 december 1778, p. 113, under no. 1; L. Brummel, ‘Twee teruggevonden werken van François Duquesnoy’, Oud Holland 59 (1942), pp. 97-101; J.G. van Gelder, ‘Lambert ten Kate als kunstverzamelaar’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 21 (1970), pp. 139-86, esp. pp. 163-164; J.G. van Gelder, ‘Beelden en rariteijten in de verzameling Valerius Röver’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 31 (1980), pp. 341-54, esp. pp. 341-43; Halsema-Kubes in E. Bergvelt and R. Kistemaker (eds.), De wereld binnen handbereik: Nederlandse kunst- en rariteitenverzamelingen, 1585-1735, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Amsterdams Historisch Museum) 1992, no. 168; P. Philippot, D. Coekelberghs, P. Loze and D. Vautier, L’Architecture religieuse et la sculpture baroques dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux et la principauté de Liège: 1600-1770, Sprimont 2003, p. 819; M. Boudon-Machuel, François du Quesnoy 1597-1643, Paris 2005, p. 360, nos. R.143 and R.144; H. Miedema, Denkbeeldig schoon: Lambert ten Kates opvattingen over beeldende kunst, Leiden 2006, vol. 1, p. 209 and vol. 2, pp. 224, 233-37; V. Herremans (ed.), Heads on Shoulders: Portrait Busts in the Low Countries 1600-1800), exh. cat. Antwerp (Royal Museum of Fine Arts) 2008, no. 38 (BK-1986-44-B); F. Scholten, ‘Sandrart’s Philosophers on the “Amsterdam Parnassus”’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 57 (2009), pp. 326-41; M. Jonker, ‘Boselli’s Philosophers Identified as Socrates and Plato’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), pp. 175-82; F. Scholten, ‘Bald or Headband?’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 59 (2011), pp. 183-84; F. Scholten and G. Swoboda (eds.), Caravaggio-Bernini: The Early Baroque in Rome, exh. cat. Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Museum)/Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2019-20, no. 68; K. Lloyd, ‘Bernini’s Braids and the Intimacies of Stone’, Art History. Journal of the Association for Art History 47 (2024), no. 3, pp. 493-521, esp. pp. 500-01

F. Scholten, 2025, 'workshop of François Du Quesnoy and possibly Orfeo Boselli, _, Rome, in or before 1635', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), _European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20046974