Job on the Dunghill

Entry

Depicted on this relief are several episodes from the Old Testament Book of Job (Job 1-2). Discernible bottom left is the incised monogram AL·VB, belonging to the Amsterdam sculptor Albert Vinckenbrinck (1605-1664). The relief presents the biblical figure Job, a wealthy, god-fearing man from the Land of Uz whose faith is put to the test by the devil’s deceitful tricks. Struck down by great adversity and having lost all that was once dear to him, Job finds himself sitting naked on a dunghill, with his body entirely covered in itching sores. This scene is prominently displayed in the foreground of the relief, where Job can be seen scratching himself with a pottery shard. Visible in the background are miniature scenes recounting misfortunes that befell him prior to this climactic event. At bottom left, one can see the ruins of his son’s house, which had collapsed during a desert storm, crushing all of Job’s children below. Right of centre, his cattle are stolen; above this, his flock of sheep can be seen, which were struck by lightning and devoured by flames. In the distance, left of centre, three of Job’s friends – Eliphaz, Bildad and Sophar – proceed in his direction. While coming to assist, they mistakenly presume Job is guilty of great sin for God to have punished him this severely. Yet despite all the suffering he has endured, Job remains loyal to his god, who in turn bestows on him a life even better than before.

Though he was also commissioned several larger projects, such as the lavishly ornamented pulpit of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam,¹ Vinckenbrinck was specialized in small-scale boxwood sculpture. The exceptional quality of the present relief, especially with respect to its spatial depth and the precise rendering of detail, clearly demonstrates his skill in this genre. Bok noted stylistic similarities to works by the Utrecht goldsmith Paulus van Vianen (1570-1613).² Parallels can be observed primarily in the composition of the landscape, the contours of the hills and the meticulous detailing of elements such as vegetation and clouds. Vinckenbrinck may very well have been directly inspired by Van Vianen’s models: his estate inventory lists ‘several plates, reliefs, cast from the work of Paulus van Vianen’.³

Vinckenbrinck produced at least two other variants centring on the theme Job on the Dunghill. The relief in the Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden (fig. a) displays the greatest compositional similarity to the present piece, in spite of its simpler structure and vertical orientation.⁴ Additionally, the detailing on the latter work is somewhat coarser and the figures less skilfully proportioned. By contrast, the third relief (fig. b), preserved at the Amsterdam Museum, depicts a more extensive rendering of Job on the Dunghill when compared to that of the Rijksmuseum piece.⁵ Here Job is accompanied by his wife, who beseeches him to forsake his God, albeit unsuccessfully (Job 2:9). The three different versions of the same theme together convey that Vinckenbrinck endeavoured to vary his composition for each new relief.

One of these reliefs, or perhaps an unknown fourth version, was still in Vinckenbrinck’s possession at the time of his death. Included among the many art objects listed in his estate inventory – the majority presumably being autograph works – is a boxwood Hiob op den mesthoop.⁶ Neither the identity nor religious background is known of the person(s) who acquired the other reliefs. Several theological books in Vinckenbrinck’s estate strongly suggest he was a follower of the Protestant faith himself – a relevant detail when considering the moralistic nature of Job’s tale, an Old Testament narrative befitting the Protestant tradition.⁷ In the period that Vinckenbrinck made his reliefs, the Dutch Republic was at the high point of its economic flourishing, with a broad segment of the population by this time having accumulated considerable wealth. As such, the story of Job can very likely be interpreted as a commentary on Dutch society, aimed to remind the beholder of the transitory nature of his earthly possessions, but also motivate him in leading a devout and pious life like that of Job.

Uncertain is what function the three reliefs might originally have fulfilled. Three comparable narrative boxwood reliefs by Vinckenbrinck decorate the inner doors of an Augsburg art cabinet from circa 1630, today preserved at the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles).⁸ Unknown, however, is whether these reliefs were specifically made for this purpose. Reliefs of this kind were normally probably displayed on the wall, in the case of the present relief a tenable conclusion validated by the possibly original ebony-veneered frame accompanying the piece at the time it was acquired by the Rijksmuseum.⁹

Floor ter Haar and Bieke van der Mark, 2025