Rijksmuseum

Object data

pen and brown ink, with grey wash, over traces of graphite; framing line in brownish-black ink

height 154 mm × width 206 mm

Inscriptions

inscribed and dated by the artist: upper right, in brown ink, t Casteel tot Vechel . de 1:m / 3:d (date expressed as a fraction, month over day) 1676 .
inscribed on verso: lower centre, in graphite, J de Grave; lower left, in brown ink, […] (illegible); above that, a small sketch of the outlines of the castle

Technical notes

watermark: none

Condition

Possibly trimmed on the right

Provenance

…; first recorded in the museum in 1973 (as Valentijn Klotz)¹

Object number: RP-T-00-173

The artist

Barend Klotz (? - ?)

Only one record, related to his position as a midshipman (adelborst) in the Dutch army, exists.² The Klotz family may have come from the province of Limburg, where the surname was recorded in the seventeenth century.³ Barend was likely related to fellow draughtsman Valentijn Klotz (c. 1646-1721), who was probably a brother or cousin. Barend was part of the military company of Capt. Harderwijk (?-?), the leader of the naval department of the Dutch army, founded in Maastricht in 1668.⁴ In Maastricht, he likely met fellow draughtsman Josua de Grave (1643-1712). After being stationed in Bergen op Zoom (1671-early 1672), Barend and Valentijn Klotz and Josua de Grave accompanied the army during their campaigns in the southern Netherlands in 1672, 1674, 1675 and 1676.

Barend Klotz signed and dated his works only occasionally (e.g. inv. no. RP-T-00-736). Consequently, scholars seem to have been hesitant about attributing drawings to the artist. Furthermore, his style is very close to that of Valentijn Klotz and Josua de Grave. Based on the few inscriptions found on his sheets, Mosseveld and Van Ham were able to describe Barend Klotz’s handwriting and attribute a number of drawings of sites in Bergen op Zoom to the artist.⁵ Overall, his handwriting is neater than that of Valentijn, but not as consistent as that of Josua de Grave. His ‘w’, as well as his ‘p’ and ‘z’, are quite distinguishable; also noteworthy is his sparse use of capital letters.⁶ Barend used a very distinct old-fashioned ‘e’, adding an additional loop through the ‘o’. Further, he included the words ‘geteekent de’ [accompanied with a date and place] on several of his drawings. Based on this information, various drawings in the Rijksmuseum’s collection could be (tentatively) reattributed to the artist.

Carolyn Mensing, 2020

References
R. van Eijnden and A. van der Willigen, ‘Klotz, Valentijn’, in U. Thieme and F. Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, 37 vols., Leipzig 1907-50, XX (1927), pp. 549-50; R.J.G.M. van Hasselt, ‘Drie tekenaars van topografische prenten in Brabant en elders. Valentijn Klotz, Josua de Grave en Constantijn Huygens Jr.’, Jaarboek Oudheidkundige Kring ‘De Ghulden Roos’ 25 (1965), pp. 145-55; M.H. Breitbarth-van der Stok, ‘Josua de Grave, Valentinus Klotz en Bernardus Klotz’, Bulletin Koninklijke Nederlandse Oudheidkundige Bond 68 (1969), pp. 99-101; J.H. van Mosselveld and W.A. van Ham, Tekeningen van Bergen op Zoom. Topografische afbeeldingen van Bergen op Zoom en omgeving uit de zestiende tot en met de achttiende eeuw, exh. cat. Bergen op Zoom (Markiezenhof) 1973-74, pp. 15-18; G. Gordon, ‘Klotz, Valentijn’, in J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, 34 vols., London/New York 1996, XVIII, pp. 140-41; P. Groenendijk, Beknopt biografisch lexicon van Zuid- en Noord-Nederlandse schilders, graveurs, glasschilders, tapijtwevers et cetera van ca. 1350 tot ca. 1720, Leiden 2008, p. 466

Entry

Depicted here is Kasteel Frisselstein, near Veghel, in the province of Noord-Brabant. The castle was probably built sometime after 1450 by Godefridus van Erpe (?-?). The last resident left the castle in 1808, and the building quickly feel into disrepair. It was demolished in 1810.⁷

In the winter of 1675-76, Barend Klotz and Valentijn Klotz (c. 1646-1721) travelled around the province of Noord-Brabant. The Rijksmuseum's collection includes several drawings by both artists depicting prominent architecture in and around Veghel and Gemert (e.g. inv. nos. RP-T-1888-A-1642, RP-T-1898-A-3978 and RP-T-1905-66). The last sheet, by Valentijn Klotz, was drawn one day later, on 4 January 1676, and depicts the castle from the opposite side of the moat.

Two related drawings are preserved in the Special Collections of the University of Leiden, one of the former Lambertuskerk in Veghel (inv. no. PK-1993-T-1) and a nearly identical replica of the present sheet (inv. no. PK-T-326). It is not immediately evident which sheet – the present sheet or the one in Leiden – is the original drawing of Kasteel Frisselstein. The Rijksmuseum sheet seems slightly sketchier and might therefore be the first conceived; note, for example, the rendering of the bird’s nest on the top of the tower. Both Valentijn and Barend drew in an incredibly similar style: the only way to tell the difference is by comparing the handwriting of both artists with the inscription in the upper right corner. In the present sheet, the handwriting is neater and the artist used the old-fashioned ‘e’, adding an additional loop through the circle. These are characteristics associated with Barend Klotz.

It is unclear whether the two artists made these drawings as an assignment for Prince Willem III (1650-1702), who did not start his official campaign until April 1676, or as independent works. Considering that there are at least two versions of the same view, they could also have been made for several specific patrons, acting as records of the site.

Carolyn Mensing, 2020

Literature

R.J.G.M. van Hasselt, ‘Drie tekenaars van topografische prenten in Brabant en elders. Valentijn Klotz, Josua de Grave en Constantijn Huygens Jr.’, Jaarboek Oudheidkundige Kring ‘De Ghulden Roos’ 25 (1965), pp. 145-92, no. 271 (as Valentijn Klotz; wrong date)

Citation

C. Mensing, 2020, 'attributed to Barend Klotz, View of Kasteel Frisselstein, Veghel, Veghel, 1676-01-03', in J. Turner (ed.), Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.54285

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