Aan de slag met de collectie:
Zittende man met een kom en een lepel op schoot
Cornelis Saftleven, 1662
- Soort kunstwerktekening
- ObjectnummerRP-T-1902-A-4573
- Afmetingenhoogte 281 mm x breedte 190 mm
- Fysieke kenmerkenzwart krijt, met witte dekverf, op bruin getint papier; kaderlijnen in zwart krijt
Ontdek verder
Identificatie
Titel(s)
Zittende man met een kom en een lepel op schoot
Objecttype
Objectnummer
RP-T-1902-A-4573
Onderdeel van catalogus
Vervaardiging
Vervaardiging
tekenaar: Cornelis Saftleven
Datering
1662
Zoek verder op
Materiaal en techniek
Fysieke kenmerken
zwart krijt, met witte dekverf, op bruin getint papier; kaderlijnen in zwart krijt
Afmetingen
hoogte 281 mm x breedte 190 mm
Dit werk gaat over
Onderwerp
Verwerving en rechten
Verwerving
aankoop 1902
Copyright
Herkomst
...; collection J. Werneck (? - 1893), Frankfurt-am-Main (L. 2561); his sale, Amsterdam (F. Muller), 23 June 1885 _sqq_., no. 262 (‘_Corneille Saftleven. Homme assis et mangeant. Pierre noire sur fond brun, rehaussé de blanc. Signé et daté: 1662. Hauteur 28,5, largeur 19 cent._’), fl. 4.50, to William Pitcairn Knowles (1820-94), Rotterdam and Wiesbaden (L. 2643); his sale, Amsterdam (F. Muller), 25-26 June 1895, one of three in no. 582, with inv. nos. RP-T-1902-A-4571 and RP-T-1902-A-4572, fl. 16 for all, to the dealer C.F. Roos (Amsterdam) for the Vereniging Rembrandt; from whom, fl. 18.50 for all, to the museum (L. 2228), 1902
Documentatie
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Cornelis Saftleven
Seated Man with a Bowl and a Spoon in his Lap
1662
Inscriptions
monogrammed and dated: lower right, in black chalk, CSL / 1662
inscribed on verso: lower left corner, Coll. J. Werneck frankfurt a/M; lower left, in a modern hand, in pencil, C. Saftleven
Technical notes
watermark: none
Provenance
...; collection J. Werneck (? - 1893), Frankfurt-am-Main (L. 2561); his sale, Amsterdam (F. Muller), 23 June 1885 sqq., no. 262 (‘Corneille Saftleven. Homme assis et mangeant. Pierre noire sur fond brun, rehaussé de blanc. Signé et daté: 1662. Hauteur 28,5, largeur 19 cent.’), fl. 4.50, to William Pitcairn Knowles (1820-94), Rotterdam and Wiesbaden (L. 2643); his sale, Amsterdam (F. Muller), 25-26 June 1895, one of three in no. 582, with inv. nos. RP-T-1902-A-4571 and RP-T-1902-A-4572, fl. 16 for all, to the dealer C.F. Roos (Amsterdam) for the Vereniging Rembrandt; from whom, fl. 18.50 for all, to the museum (L. 2228), 1902
Object number: RP-T-1902-A-4573
Context
Of the approximately five hundred known drawings by Cornelis Saftleven, close to two hundred are studies of human figures. The Rijksmuseum collection holds sixteen of these sheets, made between 1634 and 1665, which give a fairly complete picture of Saftleven's figural draughtsmanship. The models are recorded in varying poses and drawn on different types of support, sometimes toned, sometimes coloured. The drawings range from very swift sketches to more detailed studies.
All the drawings are made with black chalk; those on coloured paper are heightened with opaque white watercolour or white chalk. The Seated Boy with a Hat (inv. no. RP-T-1989-105) is the only one finished with grey wash. The earliest dated study in the Rijksmuseum, the Seated Woman, Facing Left of 1634 (inv. no. RP-T-1989-100) and a later sheet dated 1665, Seated Boy with a Flute (inv. no. RP-T-1902-A-4570), are among the most monumental of the Rijksmuseum figure studies.
The goal of Saftleven's prolific output is unclear: in only a few cases can the figures be linked to his painted oeuvre. He may have sold his studies to other artists, and he certainly also drew figures for his talented landscapist brother Herman (1609-1685), who used them in his paintings. The Rijksmuseum’s collection includes two versions of a Seated Man with a Pipe (inv. nos. RP-T-1989-104 and RP-T-2019-423). Cornelis sent the latter sheet to his brother via post, probably so he could incorporate the figure in one of his compositions.1A. Zwollo, ‘Een ‘Cornelis Saftleven’ per brief’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (NKJ) / Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art 38 (1987), pp. 402-06.
Carolyn Mensing, 2020
The artist
Biography
Cornelis Saftleven (Gorinchem, 1606 – Rotterdam, 1681)
The son of the Rotterdam artist Herman Saftleven I (c. 1580-1627) and Lijntge Cornelisdr Moelants (d. 1625), he was trained by his father together with two of his brothers, Herman Saftleven (1609-1685) and Abraham Safleven (b. 1613). He likely stayed in Antwerp between 1632 and 1634, where Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) painted figures in some of his paintings.2RKD Artists, https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/69245; accessed 20 August 2020. For a short period of time in the 1630s, he stayed with his brother Herman in Utrecht.3A. van der Willigen and F.G. Meijer, A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Painters Working in Oils, 1525-1725, Leiden 2003, p. 175.
Except for these few trips, Cornelis Saftleven stayed in Rotterdam. In 1640, he lived in the Lombardstraat and from 1648-1681 on the Franse Water.4N. Schadee, Rotterdamse meesters uit de gouden eeuw, exh. cat. Rotterdam (Historisch Museum) 1994-95, p. 295. On 18 November 1648, he married Catharina Dircx van der Heyden (d. 1654). After she passed away, on 29 September 1655, he married Elisabeth Melchiors van Avont (1619-1695). It appears he remained childless. In 1667, he became the dean of the Guild of St Luke in Rotterdam.5RKD Artists, https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/69245; accessed 20 August 2020.
Cornelis Saftleven was a versatile artist who produced paintings and drawings on a large variety of topics: peasant scenes, rural interiors, landscapes, cattle scenes, biblical and mythological themes, images of hell, allegories, satires and illustrations of proverbs. About 200 paintings and 500 drawings (probably a fraction of his output) have been documented.6W. Schulz, “Saftleven family,” (2003), Grove Art Online, https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000074951; accessed 20 Aug. 2020. In his drawings, he worked mainly in black chalk and sometimes finished his sheets with grey wash. Occasionally, he drew on toned papers. His characteristic monogram – combining the letters ‘C, S and L’ – and a date can be found on his several of his drawings. Perhaps he made these for the market. Stylistically, he was influenced by the landscape drawings of Roelant Rogman (1627-1692), the animal drawings of Roelant Savery (1576-1639), Frans Snijders (1579-1657) and Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691), and the figure studies of Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667).7Ibid.
Saftleven was buried on 5 June 1681 in the French Protestant Church in Rotterdam.8RKD Artists, https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/69245; accessed 20 August 2020.
Carolyn Mensing, 2020
References
A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, 3 vols., Amsterdam 1718-21, I (1718), pp. 342-43 (as: Kornelis Zachtleven); C. Hofstede de Groot, ‘Een spotteekening van Cornelis Saftleven op de Dordtsche Synode’, Oud-Holland 15 (1897), pp. 121-23; A. von Wurzbach, Niederländisches Künstlerlexikon, 3 vols., Vienna/Leipzig 1906-11, II (1910), p. 548; N. Alting Mees, ‘Aanteekeningen over oud-Rotterdamsche kunstenaars III’, Oud-Holland 31 (1913), pp. 241-68, 255-59; U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler: Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, 37 vols., Leipzig 1907-50, XXIX (1935), p. 309; B.J.A. Renckens, ‘Enkele notities bij vroege werken van Cornelis Saftleven’, Bulletin Museum Boymans-van Beuningen 13 (1962), pp. 59-74; A. Zwollo, ‘Een “Cornelis Saftleven” per brief’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 38 (1987), pp. 402-06; W. Schulz, Cornelis Saftleven (1607-1685): Leben und Werke, mit einem kritischen Katalog der Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Berlin 1978; N. Schadee, Rotterdamse meesters uit de gouden eeuw, exh. cat. Rotterdam (Historisch Museum) 1994-95, pp. 295-96; RKD artists https://rkd.nl/artists/69245
Entry
The present drawing and inv. nos. RP-T-1902-A-4571 and RP-T-1902-A-4572 were part of the collection of William Pitcairn Knowles (1820-94) and sold together in one lot to the museum in 1895.9Sale, Amsterdam (F. Muller), 25-26 June 1895, no. 582. Saftleven often used coloured or toned papers to enhance the contrast between the darks and lights of the figure and background. Moreover, in many of these sheets, he silhouetted the figure by adding subtle shading behind the figures, which brings them forward into the foreground. This ‘trick’ can also be seen in Seated Man with a Fur Cap, his Right Hand to his Chin (inv. no. RP-T-1989-103) in the Rijksmuseum’s collection.
Carolyn Mensing, 2020
Literature
Jaarverslag Rijksprentenkabinet (1902), p. 26; W. Schulz, Cornelis Saftleven (1607-1685): Leben und Werke, mit einem kritischen Katalog der Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Berlin 1978, p. 81, no. 35, fig. 71
Citation
C. Mensing, 2020, 'Cornelis Saftleven, _, 1662', in J. Turner (ed.), _Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200143923
(accessed 7 juli 2026 04:32:13 UTC+0).Footnotes
- 1A. Zwollo, ‘Een ‘Cornelis Saftleven’ per brief’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (NKJ) / Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art 38 (1987), pp. 402-06.
- 2RKD Artists, https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/69245; accessed 20 August 2020.
- 3A. van der Willigen and F.G. Meijer, A Dictionary of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Painters Working in Oils, 1525-1725, Leiden 2003, p. 175.
- 4N. Schadee, Rotterdamse meesters uit de gouden eeuw, exh. cat. Rotterdam (Historisch Museum) 1994-95, p. 295.
- 5RKD Artists, https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/69245; accessed 20 August 2020.
- 6W. Schulz, “Saftleven family,” (2003), Grove Art Online, https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000074951; accessed 20 Aug. 2020.
- 7Ibid.
- 8RKD Artists, https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/69245; accessed 20 August 2020.
- 9Sale, Amsterdam (F. Muller), 25-26 June 1895, no. 582.