Matham drawing

JACOB MATHAM                          Haarlem 1571 - 1631 Haarlem

Head of a Man wearing a Laurel Wreath.

Drawing in pen and brown ink over traces of black chalk; circa 1600 –1610. We are grateful to Peter Schatborn who recognized our drawing as by Matham. He compares it to a drawing in Edinburgh, inv. D 2838, signed by the artist and dated 1607.

Matham, the stepson of Goltzius (Goltzius married Matham’s mother in 1579) was Goltzius' apprentice from 1579 and later director of the Goltzius shop. He frequently engraved after Goltzius' designs and by the late 1580s had assimilated the extreme Mannerist style of Spranger and others. Matham remained close in style to Goltzius and this relationship is seen in our drawing. Recent scholarship has now begun to separate the engraved works of the two artists, whose very similarity has made such distinctions difficult, especially during the last years of the 16^th century and the beginning of the 17^th century.

This kind of drawing, often referred to as a Federstück, clearly in imitation of engraving, was made as a demonstration of the artist’s virtuosity, and as well was a celebration of the brilliant character of engraving as a medium.  On the basis of a comparison with the Edinburgh drawing, dated 1607, our drawing can reasonably be dated to the first decade of the 17^th century. Such drawings are now of the utmost rarity.

Diameter: 193 mm    7 5/8 inches

K. Andrews, Catalogue of Netherlandish Drawings in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh 1985; L. Widerkehr, La Fortune de Hendrick Goltzius dans la Dynastie des Graveurs Matham, Jacob, le père et ses deux Fils Ainés: Assimilation du Modèle et Adaptation au Gout dans la première Moitié du XVIIe Siecle, in Monte Artium, 3 (2010), pp. 53-68.