Code: 10168
Dimensions:
DIRK VELLERT or Master DV with the Star Antwerp c. 1511 - c. 1574
The Drummer and the Boy.
Etching; 1523. Hollstein 17, a very fine impression with narrow margins around the platemark. Extremely rare; Hollstein cites eleven impressions of which only six are complete.
It is now clear that Vellert was active by 1511, and was considered a distinguished glass painter in Flanders by the 1520s. By 1526, Vellert was the Deacon of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke.
Glass painting was an important branch of painting, and Vellert’s reputation was sufficiently elevated that he was brought to paint the monumental windows of King’s College Cambridge where he apparently worked from 1517 until the 1540s. Vellert’s drawings have been well preserved, and are all related to stained glass window design.
Stylistically connected to the so-called Antwerp Mannerists, Vellert was very aware of Albrecht Dürer’s prints, and Dürer must have met Vellert during the German artist’s trip to the Netherlands in 1520-21.
Vellert seems to have been a meticulous artist. All but one of his prints are signed and dated. It is not surprising that Vellert also incorporated elements of Lucas van Leyden’s style as well, and showed a keen awareness of the German Little Masters. All of these influences notwithstanding, Vellert’s etchings cannot be mistaken for anything but his own style. His figures are often muscular and sensual.
The subject matter of his smaller etchings is varied and ingenious, often defying precise explanation. Although somewhat related to military subjects, our etching seems satirical. The drummer, although equipped with a broad sword, carries his drum on his back, and leads a young boy who prominently carries a hoop, possibly a kind of toy. The two then seem much less the fearsome soldiers who frequently terrorized the people of the countryside.
Sheet: 3 7/16 x 2 5/8 inches 91 x 66 mm
