Dürer to Van Dyck: Drawings from Chatsworth House (Royal Scottish Academy, National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh organised in collaboration with the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth House, 9 November 2024–23 February 2025). Catalogue by Chri

With about 1,800 drawings of various ‘schools’, the Old Master drawings of the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth House rank amongst the greatest of both public and private collections. Forty-six of these drawings, all by Northern European artists, featured in the exhibition Dürer to Van Dyck: Drawings from Chatsworth House at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. This was the first ever exhibition of drawings from Chatsworth House focusing solely on Northern European drawings. Although the first Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish (1641–1707), initiated the drawings collection, it was his son, the second Duke, also called William (c. 1672–1729) who significantly expanded it – through the acquisition of not just works on paper, but also paintings, ancient coins, medals, and Greek and Roman gems. The third Duke, another William (1698–1755), continued this tradition and made additions. In terms of collecting practices, the holdings at Chatsworth align with other great private collections, such as the Royal Collection, reflecting the tastes of the individuals who assembled them. Although quite a number of sheets have left the repository since its creation in the first half of the eighteenth century – for instance, 18 Rembrandt landscape drawings of the original 30 remain – it is still one of the more illustrious collections in the world, with very strong holdings of Italian and Northern European drawings. Nineteenth-century visitors to Chatsworth House were able to view the drawings in the ‘Sketch Galleries’.1 William Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire (1790–1858), who installed the ‘Sketch Galleries’, had glazed gilded frames designed for the drawings on display (one of these frames is represented in the exhibition), and wrote a handbook for visitors with works grouped according to schools. He admitted that it was beyond him to make a perfect hanging arrangement and description ‘of the merits of this rich and valuable possession. Few things at Chatsworth are more admired.’2 The Dukes of Devonshire have long been generous with exhibiting and lending items to other institutions. In 1868, more than 128 drawings had been loaned to a national exhibition of artworks in Leeds.3 This tradition continues to this day, with many highlights in the second half of the twentieth century. Besides various shows in the United Kingdom, audiences from continental Europe and beyond have also enjoyed the magisterial works from Chatsworth. In particular, the exhibition of a large group of drawings from different schools travelling to eight cities in six different U.S. states, and in two different countries in North America in 1969 comes to mind.4 More recently, an exhibition of drawings from the Devonshire Collection was organized in Woking in the United Kingdom in 2021, which showcased 50 drawings from Italian, French, Dutch, and Flemish schools. This was the largest display of drawings from the collection in more than 20 years.5 The exhibition in Edinburgh, divided over three galleries, did not adhere to one single narrative. Although there was some chronological and thematic coherence to its structure, its aim seems to have been to display some of the collection's strongest sheets by Northern European artists from the period 1500–1700 from the Devonshire Collection and to highlight the richness and intricacies of these drawings. The exhibition may also be regarded as a celebration of the collection itself, rather than just the artists included in the show. The lavishly illustrated catalogue includes entries for each drawing but only one essay, which takes the form of a history of the Devonshire Collection of Old Master drawings by Charles Noble, Emeritus Curator, Fine Art at Chatsworth. In addition to the 46 drawings exhibited, there were also four prints – one of which, an etching by Pieter de Jode the Younger (1596–1674), is worked up with brush and brown ink and grey and brown washes – as well as two paintings, and the Iconography album with prints by Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). All but five of the drawings on view have been displayed in exhibitions in the past.6 One of these five drawings is by the Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck (1498–1574), one is by an anonymous German artist, likely active in Southwestern Germany in the 1580s and 1590s, associated with Hans Hoffmann (c. 1530–1591/1592), and three are by the Fleming Sebastiaan Vranck (1573–1647). It is intriguing that the Van Heemskerck and anonymous sheets had never been exhibited before. They were amongst the standout pieces in the Edinburgh show. The Van Heemskerck drawing possesses the qualities for which he is widely celebrated. Using pen and brown ink, he drew Susanna Accused by the Elders (1562) with his typical, precise and fine hatchings (Fig. 1).7 Susanna, standing on the left, looks perfectly (and understandably) unhappy as she is brought towards her judgement by the beastly two elders. She has only just come out of the water as her clothes are not fastened but held up by her hands. The materials and technique employed by Van Heemskerck are deliberate as they served the purpose of transforming the drawing into a print. The sharp lines and contrasts of the penmanship are similar to the angularity of the engraving. In the print, which was the second plate in a six-print series depicting the life of Susanna, the number of bystanders is reduced and the scene of Daniel's intercession is removed. As Christian Tico Seifert argues in the catalogue entry, this eased the printmaker's work and simplified the composition. Moreover, in the print, events that followed the accusation are eliminated.8 Precisely because of this simplification in the print, the mise-en-scène of the drawn composition emphasises Van Heemskerck's masterful approach to storytelling. One of the other ‘premiered’ drawings has previously been placed in the circle of Hans Hoffmann. It depicts a curious combination between the head of a roebuck and a wig buck with monstrous antlers (Fig. 2). The drawing has been linked with Hoffmann on the basis of a nearly identical work in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin, signed and dated by Hoffmann, ‘ad Vivum pinx. Pragae 1589’.9 Another drawn version of this deer was made by an anonymous monogrammist ‘IZ’ dated 157[8?], now in Dresden.10 Lastly, a woodcut from c. 1590–1594 was produced by Christoph Lederlein, based on a drawing by Cornelius Schwindt after a drawing by an unidentified artist.11 The three drawings and the print are so similar that Seifert believes that because of the ‘identical position (…) and on the same eye-level’, there may have been a prototype image that artists could have used. As Seifert argues, the differences are too prominently present for the drawings to be copies of the other.12 It is difficult to prove this argument without the existence of such a prototype, but it is very likely that one existed. The Chatsworth drawing is weaker in handling and technique, and lacks a certain depth compared to the sheets by Hoffmann and the Monogrammist ‘IZ’. However, I find Seifert's assertion that it is ‘unjustified to assume’ that the work in the Devonshire collection could not have been made in the Hoffmann workshop, based on the ‘significant differences’, somewhat too restrictive. After all, from his experience of copying Albrecht Dürer's works, Hoffmann knew of the importance of this copying tradition, and he could have passed this on to others.13 Both the Van Heemskerck drawing and the unidentified artist's sheet were in the first gallery of the exhibition, which also showcased drawings by (amongst others) Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497/1498–1543), and Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) – all against a navy-blue wall. The second room offered a conversation between Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Anthony van Dyck, and included the recently recovered painted grisaille double-portrait of the two artists by Erasmus Quellinus II (1607–1678), which was stolen in 1979 whilst on loan at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, United Kingdom, and found by the Belgian art historian Bert Schepers in Toulon, France, in 2021. The highlights in this room are three striking portrait drawings, mostly in black chalk, by Van Dyck for the Iconography series, which depict Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1636), Jan Snellinck the Elder (c. 1549–1638), and Inigo Jones (1573–1652). I also feel that the sand-coloured walls and light-wood frames in this gallery, paired with the soft grey and red drawings, do not do the works justice, leaving many compositions looking regretfully washed out. In a room full of rather delicately executed works, the tiny and dark Salome Receiving the Head of St John the Baptist by Adam Elsheimer (1578–1610) appeared a bit of an outlier. It is unclear why this sheet was included in this room, although its provenance can be traced back to Nicolaes Flinck (1646–1723). Parts of his collection of drawings by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) were displayed in the room following this gallery. The main focus in the third and last gallery was the study of nature and landscape. Against a burgundy-red backdrop, five Rembrandt landscapes and one cityscape were displayed. It is likely that all Rembrandt sheets, and especially the landscapes, were bought by the second Duke from Nicolaes Flinck, the son of Govert (1615–1660), who was one of Rembrandt's pupils. These sheets showcase Rembrandt's fascination with the landscape genre. This room also contained a large sheet now firmly attributed to Rubens, depicting a dying tree. This drawing was once attributed to a young Van Dyck, based on the inscription in the lower right corner, which reads afgevallen bladeren/ende op sommighen plaetsen/schoon gruen gras door kyken (‘fallen leaves and in some places fresh green grass peeps through’). The inscription appears to be by Van Dyck's hand, written on a Rubens sheet.14 By using a variety of materials, such as red and black chalks, pen and brown ink, greenish-brown watercolour, touches of opaque watercolour, and possibly even oil paint, the Flemish master created a dynamic composition. The movement of the tree, which almost seems to fall backwards, in combination with the tactility of the used materials, alludes to the poetic beauty of decay (Fig. 3). The exhibition Dürer to Van Dyck: Drawings from Chatsworth House presented works from both the greatest Northern European artists from art history, as well as from lesser-known or anonymous draughtsmen. Although some of the works did not always fit neatly into the exhibition's thematic rooms, in such exhibitions it is arguably the overall outstanding quality that matters more than a consistently cohesive narrative. The wall labels contained the necessary information concerning artist, subject, and materials, but also include short and clear explanatory texts. The catalogue is a welcome addition to the knowledge of the collection's holdings and the literature around these works. Since most of the drawings cannot be found online, the reproductions of and entries for each object are of great value. The decision to display ‘only’ about 50 works was a refreshing way to look more closely at the similarities and differences between artists, their materials, and their techniques. In this case, less is truly more. The Edinburgh exhibition showed the importance and appeal of historical private collections. It is hoped that keepers of other great and private collections of drawings will continue to follow this model of exhibition making so their well-guarded treasures continue to be seen, studied, and appreciated.