Jan de Bisschop was the son of Harmen Jansz. de Bisschop and Aaltje Adriaensz. van Noort. Jan preferred to call himself Episcopius as he had a strong preference for the latin language. He is assumed to have been an apprentice of Bartholomeus Breenbergh (Deventer, 1598-1657 Amsterdam), though he was a dillettante. Jan studied Law in Leyden after which he settles as a lawyer in The Hague in 1652. He married Anna van Baerle (1615-1676) in 1653. In The Hague de Bisschop held close connections and friendship with the Huygens family, especially with Constantijn Huygens Jr. (1628-1697). Together with Jacob van der Does Sr. (1623-1673), Maerten Lengele (1615-1668), Willem Doudijns (1630-1698) and probably Constantijn Huygens Jr. (1628-1697) as well, Jan de Bisschop founded a private drawing academy to promote Classicism.
De Bisschop's most important publications on Claccisism were Signorum veterum Icones (published in 1668-1669) after classical sculptures in Rome and Paradigmata Graphices Variorum Artificium with etchings after drawings by Italian Masters. This second publication unfortunately was left unfinished due to de Bisschops premature death.[1][2]
Jan de Bisschop died of tuberculosis in 1671, after which his drawings and prints were auctioned. The copper plates for his etchings were purchased by Nicolaus Visscher who published a new edition of his graphics (Icones and Paradigmata).
Around 1655 Jan de Bisschop started copying after paintings by 16th and 17th century Masters. His goal was to recreate the original painting fully respecting the artists style and rendering, though translated into another medium with brush and ink on paper. Actually, he was the very first to translate oil paintings into large size washed drawings. During the 16th century this manner of copying was applied but exclusively for copying sculptures and reliefs. His aim was to transfer the paintings as truthful as possible into drawings in black chalk and wash. These drawings often are sources of valuable information and sometimes the only remaining resources for paintings or sculptures which got lost in the past. For instance the drawing we recently sold to the Rijksmuseum, provides the only known image of a lost sculpture of a bust of Philibert van Savoye (1480-1504) by Conrat Meit (1470/85-1550/51).[3]
De Bisschops' copies were so highly esteemed, Arnold Houbraken even decided to mention him and depict a portrait of Jan de Bisschop in his De Groote Schouburgh, 1718-1721.[4]
This exceptionally large drawing shows de Bisschop at his very best and depicts a copy of the painting The Holy Family and the infant Saint John the Baptist also known as Madonna del Passeggio after Raphael (1483-1520), which was in the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) until at least 1689 and now in the Scottish National Gallery.[5]
With greatest artistic inspiration and most refined expression de Bisschop has translated the tender and intimate moment where the glances of Jesus Christ and the infant St. John meet, while the Virgin Mary endearingly rests her hand upon the head of St. John who bows in humility in soft tones of wash, creating a splendid translation from the original medium of oil on canvas to ink on paper. Raphael was part of his group of most beloved artists like Hans Holbein II (1497/98-1543), Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), Raphael (1483-1520), Titian (1488-1576), Giulio Romano (1492-1546) and Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652). Apart from few exceptions de Bisschop copied after the original works of art, which were part of famous collections such as the Royal House of Orange, Lady Arundel and Jan Six. Jean Pesne (1623-1700) engraved after the painting by Raphael.[6]
[1] Renske E. Jellema, Michiel Plomp, Episcopius / Jan de Bisschop; advocaat en tekenaar / lawyer and draughtsman. Waanders Uitgevers, Zwolle / Museum het Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam, 1992.
[2] Jan de Bisschop, Jan G. van Gelder, I. Jost, Jan de Bisschop and his Icones & Paradigmata. Classical Antiquities and Italian Drawings for Artistic Instruction in Seventeenth Century Holland. Davaco Publishers, Doornspijk, 1985.
[3] Jan de Bisschop (Amsterdam 1628-1671 The Hague), Bust of Philibert van Savoye (after Conrat Meit).
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, 211 x 182 mm.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. no. RP-T-2019-24
[4] Arnold Houbraken, De groote Schouburgh der Nederlantsche Kunstschilders en schilderessen... (1721). Gedrukt door den auteur te Amsterdam, 1718-1721. Vol. III, p. 212-213.
[5] Raphael, The Holy Family Meeting the Infant St John the Baptist ('The Madonna del Passeggio').
Oil and gold on panel, 90 x 63,3 cm. Scottish National Gallery, Accession number: NGL 064.46
[6] Jean Pesne, La Belle Jardinière.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London. inv. no. DYCE.2468
