- 124
Lieven Cruyl
Description
- Lieven Cruyl
- Topographic View of Jerusalem: Judas Maccabeus Victorious over Antiochus
Pen and brown and black ink and grey wash, over black chalk, on vellum;
inscribed, signed and dated on the back of the mount: MACHABEUS, ET QUI CUM IPSO ERANT. DOMINO SE PROTEGENTE, TEMPLUM / quidem, & Ciivitatem recepit: aras autem, quas alienigenae per platcas extrúxerant, / Itemque deliibra demolitus est. Libro 2 Machab. cap. 10Antiochi impÿ Regis Ducibus pulsis, Judae Machabaei fortissimi Viri heroicum / ZELUM / LUDOVICUS MAGNUS piè imitatus
Ex Gallia Calvinum impiissimum expulit, Templa Satanica, in quibus / Cathedrae Pestilentiae dudum Coelum sacrilegè blasphemanerant, / demolitus est, Orthodoxum Dei Cultum, Catholicam / avitam Religionem stabilviit, firmavit.
Jude Machabee recouvre le Temple et la Ville de Jerusalem profanès par Antioche Roÿ / Paÿen brise les Autels et Temples des Idoles, chasse les princes des Paÿens par un / Zele & Courage invincible, lequel
Lovis le Grand imitant a chassè de la France Calvin & ses Sectateurs, a brisé leur Temples, / les Sÿnagoges de Satan les quels avoynt long temp blasphemé le Ciel, a retabli / la Religion ancienne, & Orthodoxe Romaine.
Levinus Cruyl Pbr Gandensis / Delineavit 1686 et dedicavit
Literature
C.T. Eisler, 'Power to Europe's Chosen Peoples. A New Maccabean Page for Louis XIV by Lievin Cruyl', Artibus et Historiae, no. 17 (ix), 1988, pp. 32-33, 35, 37, reproduced p. 33, fig. 1;
B. Jatta, Lievin Cruyl e la sua opera grafica: un artista fiammingo nell'Italia del Seicento, Brussels and Rome 1992, p. 84; p. 85, note 118; p. 137, no. 88; reproduced p. 340, fig. 166;
D. Acton, Master Drawings from the Worcester Art Museum, exhib. cat., Worcester, Art Museum, et al., 1998-1999, p. 74, under no. 29; pp. 220-221, no. 29, note 6
Condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
As the inscription on the backing indicates, this drawing was made to compare Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes and expulsion of the Protestants from France (1685) with the Old Testament Apocrypha's account of Judas Maccabaeus's defeat of the Syrian King and the subsequent return of the Temple in Jerusalem to its legitimate function (168 B.C.). Colin Eisler's article (op. cit.) gives a most interesting discussion of the symbolic significance of the Temple to later Christian rulers. He also points out that Cruyl's depiction of Jerusalem is based on plates in the three volume In Ezechielem Explanationes of Heronymo Prado and Juan Bauttista Villalpanda.
A more careful reading of the inscription reveals that this drawing is dated 1686, and therefore precedes Cruyl's other drawing of the subject, in a vertical format, which is signed and dated 1689.1 It was probably intended for a print, to promote the reputation of Louis XIV, for whom Cruyl was working. He came back from his travels in Italy to work at the French court where he produced bird's eye views of many building projects and may also have been active as an architect. Eisler notes that Cruyl's French works are often signed, as this one is, with 'Pbr' which indicates his training as a priest.
1. Ghent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, inv. no. 1968.s; B. Jatta, op. cit., p. 93, no. 4, reproduced fig. 163