RKD STUDIES

The ‘fine’ genre painting in the manner of Godefridus Schalcken became known in central Germany through Justus van Bentum (1670-1727).¹ He already practiced finepainting in the east, in Königsberg. His pupil Dietrich Ernst Andreae (c. 1680-1734) accompanied him to Hannover and worked indepently in Braunschweig from 1717-1719 [1].²

But Duke Anton Ulrich von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1633-1714) [2], who as a youngster had drawn and modelled himself, wanted something better.³ In 1709 he managed to acquire a Mary Magdalene by the knighted Adriaen van der Werff, for which he richly rewarded the artist with money and precious gifts [3].⁴ Nowadays we have more appreciation for Jan Steen’s Marriage of Tobias and Sarah which was owned by the duke already in Houbraken’s time (Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum) [4].⁵

1
Dietrich Ernst Andreae
Self-portrait of Dietrich Ernst Andreae (c. 1680-1734) in green dressing gown, between 1717-1719
Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, inv./cat.nr. 636

Anton Ulrich had brought together a considerable collection of old masters in his pleasure palace Salzdahlum, which was ready in 1694.⁶ Many of them can now be found in Braunschweig. An inventory of 1697 already lists paintings by Cornelis van Haarlem [5], Daniel Vertangen [6], Jan Lievens [7], Philips Wouwerman [8], Richard Brakenburgh [9] and Jacob de Heusch [10].⁷ In 1710 the collection had grown significantly with paintings by Abraham Bloemaert [11], Pieter Lastman (the two well-known pictures in the Braunschweig Museum) [12-13], Rembrandt (five, two of them copies) [14-18],⁸ Jan Victors [19], Gerard de Lairesse [20], Gerard Dou [21], the above mentioned Jan Steen and the famous Braunschweig Johannes Vermeer [22].

6
Daniel Vertangen
Landscape with nymphs
Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, inv./cat.nr. 194

Already before the middle of the century Anton Ulrich’s successor, Duke Karl I, added a large number of high quality Dutch paintings to the collection, among others the Landscape with a thunderstorm by Rembrandt [23] and the most important painting of the gallery, Rembrandt’s Portrait of a family [24].⁹ The collection in Salzdahlum ̶ Magnus Quiter was appointed as the gallery inspector ̶ could not enjoy the same fame as the art cabinet of Johann Wilhelm, or even as the Cassel gallery, but absolutely deserves to be mentioned. Incidentally Duke Anton Ulrich’s predecessors had already come into the possession of all kinds of paintings through inheritance and marriage, most of them, of course, portraits (Johannes Mijtens [25], Wolfgang Heimbach [26], Johann Tilemann).¹⁰

23
Rembrandt
Landscape with a thunderstorm, c. 1638-1640
Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, inv./cat.nr. GG 236

Finally we have to say a few words about Lippe-Detmold. Count Simon VI zur Lippe (1554-1613) sent his court painter (Johann Tilemann?) in 1602/3 to Holland to buy paintings for Emperor Rudolph II. A correspondence about his acquisition of paintings by Hendrick Goltzius [27] has come down to us, but no works by Johann Tilemann, who came from Bremen, have survived [28].¹¹ They probably looked similar to the paintings of the Dutch Mannerists, which, in general, goes for painting in Germany at the time.¹² That would not change until the next generation: Tilman's son, Simon Peter Tilman, who spent several years in the Netherlands, painted ‘Dutch’ still-lifes and ‘Utrecht’ history paintings, as we have seen.¹³

Hans Hinrich Rundt, court painter and state architect of the principality of Lippe, was a pupil of Gerard de Lairesse in Amsterdam in 1684. His portraits of the princes of Lippe [29-30] are comparable in style to the family members of the house of Anhalt by Abraham Snaphaen. It is the late Netscher style, that cannot be considered anymore as purely Dutch. ¹⁴

Active in Göttingen and Münden was the woodengraver Ludwig Büsinck (1599/1602-1669), whose dated works are between 1629 and 1636. His large altarpiece in Göttingen [31] hardly shows Dutch influence, but his colourful woodcuts are reminiscent of the Utrecht Caravaggists [32]. His son Wilhelm Ludolf Büsinck (1635-1673) was in Amsterdam and Utrecht around 1660.¹⁵ It is remarkable that the products of artists who worked in the towns, such as Büsinck, reflect the local German tradition of the 16th century much stronger than contemporary court art.

28
Johann Tilemann
Portrait of Simon VI zur Lippe (1554-1613), dated 1600
Detmold, private collection Schloss Detmold