Spring

Entry

From the seventeenth century, formal gardens and country estates were often adorned with statuary, the iconography of which refers to the unfolding and rhythm of nature, such as the four seasons, the five elements or the four times of the day. Alongside anonymous female characters, there were often gods from classical mythology that symbolized certain natural phenomena. In this (incomplete?) ensemble of three female figures, Spring (shown here) is represented as the goddess Flora, identifiable from the many flowers she carries. The damaged second statue is probably Summer (BK-NM-8673) which is often personified by Ceres. If that is the case here, the attribute missing from her broken left arm would have been a wheatsheaf. Autumn (BK-NM-8674) is not depicted as a goddess, but a bacchante, who held aloft a bunch of grapes in her right hand (which has broken off) – grapes being a fruit that is harvested in that season.

Fischer finds it highly doubtful that a fourth figure originally existed.⁴ In the eighteenth century the seasons were at times portrayed with three allegorical figures (cf. BK-1967-19). He concludes that from the start the winter season had been left out, based on the fact that here Autumn is portrayed as a women and not, as was more usual, by Bacchus. Fischer was of the opinion that there was no female personification of that season and if a male figure portraying Winter (Saturn or Vulcan) had been added it would have unbalanced the ensemble, which otherwise consisted of female figures. Evidently Fischer was not aware that Winter (like Autumn) can also be represented by an allegorical female figure or a bacchante with a winter attribute, i.e. generally a brazier over which she warms her hands (cf. BK-14559-L; SK-A-4878). Although the pieces correspond so well as regards iconography and style that it had not struck previous authors, this group would in fact seem to be more of an ‘ad hoc’ ensemble. Specifically, the Spring statue is ten centimetres taller than her companions, has a different base and is somewhat more richly detailed.

The statues can be identified on stylistic grounds as early works of Ignatius van Logteren (1685-1732). The poses, facial types, treatment of the limbs, the folds of the garments and the form of the attributes (particularly of Spring) closely resemble those of a group of six (originally eight) figures by this Amsterdam sculptor made in 1712-13 after a design by Daniel Marot for country house Boom en Bosch in Breukelen.⁵ They too have the calm, almost serene presence that typified Van Logteren’s early work and would later make way for a more baroque emotion.⁶ The lack of a signature might also confirm that they were created earlier in the sculptor’s life. The first fully signed work actually originates from 1714 (the fountain group at Frankendael House).⁷

The actual provenance of the three sculptures is not known. They may have come from the ‘Waterlandse oudheden’ collection of Aaltje Fregeres (1810-1900) which was on permanent display at her home Het Broekerhuis at Broek in Waterland just north of Amsterdam. In November 1880 Museum Het Broekerhuis (still to be built at the time) acquired her entire collection, adding a few works from elsewhere to enhance it.⁸ The museum was built in Amsterdam in 1881, opposite the entrance of Vondel Park at Amstelveenseweg.⁹ The garden and maze of this privately exploited establishment were laid out in that year after a design by the well-known garden designer Leonard Springer (1855-1940). A photo of the garden from around 1885 shows that Summer stood in front of the maze.¹⁰ The other two statues also belonged to the museum collection.¹¹ In 1887 Museum Het Broekerhuis was closed on account of insufficient interest. The building and contents were purchased by the Amsterdam collector Sophia Adriana de Bruijn (1816-1890), the dowager of the nobleman August Pieter Lopez Suasso (1804-1877). The following year she donated the three garden sculptures to the Rijksmuseum. She bequeathed the rest of her substantial collection to the city of Amsterdam. It was to form the basis of the Stedelijk Museum, which opened in 1895.¹²

Bieke van der Mark, 2025