Anna Maria van Schurman, 1657

This monochrome panel painting, or grisaille,[1]  [1]
A monochrome painting, or grisaille, was often called a grauwtje in Dutch. made in preparation for an engraving by Cornelis van Dalen the Younger (Dutch, 1638 - 1664) [fig. 1]   [fig. 1] Cornelis van Dalen after Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen, Anna Maria van Schurman, published by Clement de Jonghe, 1661, engraving, Department of Image Collections National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC., depicts a learned lady of international renown: Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678).[2]  [2]
I am grateful to Jennifer Henel and Molli Kuenstner for their help in preparing this entry. Van Schurman was born in Cologne on November 5, 1607, to Frederik van Schurman and Eva von Harff, both of whom came from wealthy and noble Protestant families.[3]  [3]
Mirjam de Baar and Brita Rang, “Anna Maria van Schurman: A Historical Survey of Her Reception since the Seventeenth Century,” in Choosing the Better Part: Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678), ed. Mirjam de Baar et al., trans. Lynne Richards (Dordrecht, 1996), 1. Frederik van Schurman had a collection of paintings that included Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder’s Bouquet of Flowers in a Glass Vase. By 1615 Anna’s parents had settled in Utrecht, where she soon demonstrated remarkable talent in embroidery, calligraphy, and the making of intricate paper cuttings. In the 1630s she took lessons in drawing and engraving from Magdalena van de Passe (Dutch, 1600 - 1638), daughter of the engraver Crispijn van de Passe I (Dutch, c. 1565 - 1637). Van Schurman began making small portraits, including self-portraits, in a variety of mediums, among them pastels and oils, and small sculptures made of boxwood or wax. In recognition of her artistic abilities, the Saint Luke’s Guild of Utrecht gave her an honorary membership in 1643.[4]  [4]
See Katlijne van der Stighelen, “‘Et ses artistes mains’: The Art of Anna Maria van Schurman,” in Choosing the Better Part: Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678), ed. Mirjam de Baar et al., trans. Lynne Richards (Dordrecht, 1996), 58.

Van Schurman was renowned even more for her intellectual concerns than for her artistic accomplishments. Referred to as the Utrecht “Minerva,” she exchanged poems and corresponded with some of the greatest minds of the day, including Constantijn Huygens (1596–1687), René Descartes (1596–1650), and Jacob Cats (1577–1660).[5]  [5]
For a list of her treatises, poems, and publications, see Mirjam de Baar et al., ed., Choosing the Better Part: Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678), trans. Lynne Richards (Dordrecht, 1996), 155–157. In 1637 Cats dedicated his book Trou-ringh (Wedding Ring) to her, and he included her engraved self-portrait opposite the frontispiece.[6]  [6]
Jacob Cats, ’s Weerelts begin, midden, ende, besloten in den Trou-ringh, met den proefsteen van den selven (Dordrecht, 1637). When Utrecht University opened its doors in 1636, she attended lectures, thus becoming the first woman to go to university in the Netherlands.[7]  [7]
According to documentation, she did not actually attend as a full student, but was allowed to sit in the back as an “observer.” Gisbertus Voetius first invited her to write poems for the inauguration of Utrecht University and then allowed her to attend lectures in a loge that concealed her from other students; thus she was the (unofficial) first female student. See Joyce L. Irwin, “Anna Maria van Schurman and Her Intellectual Circle,” in Anna Maria van Schuman, Whether a Christian Woman Should Be Educated and Other Writings from Her Intellectual Circle, ed. and trans. Joyce L. Irwin (Chicago and London, 1998), 5. Not only did she learn twelve languages, even writing a grammar book for the Ethiopian language, but she also became well versed in philosophy, botany, and medicine. Under the guidance of the famous scholar Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676) she studied theology, a subject that preoccupied her during much of her later life. Her many scholarly works include her dissertation, written in Latin in 1641, in which she discussed whether women should have access to higher education.[8]  [8]
Her dissertation argued that, indeed, Christian women should have access to higher education, but only if it did not interfere with other womanly duties as a wife and mother, for example. See Anna Maria van Schuman, Whether a Christian Woman Should Be Educated and Other Writings from Her Intellectual Circle, ed. and trans. Joyce L. Irwin (Chicago and London, 1998). In 1659 this dissertation was translated into English and published in London as The Learned Maid. Finally, Van Schurman’s personal qualities of piety and virginity became important components of her international reputation.

When Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen arrived in Utrecht in 1652 after a long and distinguished career as a portrait painter in London, he quickly became the principal portrait painter of that Dutch artistic center.[9]  [9]
Among the highlights of his career in England, he was named a painter in the court of King Charles I in 1632. Jonson had begun his career in London in the late 1610s, painting portraits that were rather smooth in execution and stiff in appearance. After Sir Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599 - 1641) came to England in 1632 and befriended him, however, Jonson learned to portray sitters in a more natural and elegant manner.[10]  [10]
For more information on the Van Dyckian portrait style of Jonson, see Hilbert Lootsma, “Tracing a Pose: Govert Flinck and the Emergence of the Van Dyckian Mode of Portraiture in Amsterdam,” Simiolus 33, no. 4 (2007–2008): 225. In Utrecht Jonson continued to paint large-scale portraits that reflect Van Dyck’s influence, both in the refined poses of the sitters and in the fluent painting techniques he used to render their costumes.[11]  [11]
A painting by Jonson from 1660, alleged to portray Anna Maria van Schurman, shows a more formal portrait than that in the grisaille, with Van Dyckian rendering. See Portrait of a Woman at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille, inv. no. 103LL. See Hans Buijs and Mària van Berge-Gerbaud, Tableaux flamands et hollandais du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (Paris, 1991), no. 24, 70–72. Prints made after Jonson’s paintings, such as the large collection at the National Portrait Gallery in London, one can see that Jonson added faux framing features around his sitters to illustrate their trade or importance. Often, this portrait would be accompanied by poetic or explanatory text, such as that of the resulting print by Van Dalen (see fig. 1). These same pictorial qualities characterize this small, monochrome panel painting of Van Schurman. She gazes directly out at the viewer, her features recognizable through comparisons with her self-portraits.[12]  [12]
For reproductions of a number of her self-portraits, see Mirjam de Baar et al., eds., Choosing the Better Part: Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678), trans. Lynne Richards (Dordrecht, 1996). She wears a flowing gown with a shawl that wraps gracefully over her left arm as she gently clasps a ribbon on her bodice. In her right hand she holds a book indicative of her erudition. Behind her is a view of the Utrecht cathedral, a backdrop that associates her not only with the city where she spent most of her life but also with the Christian piety for which she was so well known.

The monochrome painting technique that Jonson used here is another reflection of Van Dyck’s influence. During the late 1620s Van Dyck used rapidly executed monochrome studies as models for the large series of portrait prints he made of artists, collectors, princes, statesmen, and philosophers that became known as the Iconography.[13]  [13]
See Ger Luijten, “The Iconography: Van Dyck’s Portraits in Print,” in Carl Depauw and Ger Luijten, Anthony van Dyck as a Printmaker, trans. Beverly Jackson (New York, 1999), 73–91. Jonson followed Van Dyck’s model in creating this monochrome study for a portrait print and also emulated the Flemish master’s freedom of touch when rendering highlights along the folds of Van Schurman’s costume. Indeed, so close are the stylistic associations between this painting and Van Dyck’s monochrome oil sketches that the great nineteenth-century German scholar Gustav Waagen, upon seeing this portrait of Van Schurman in the collection of the Reverend J. Fuller Russell, was inclined to reattribute the Van Dyck monochrome portrait sketches in the Duke of Buccleuch’s collection to Jonson.[14]  [14]
Gustav Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collection of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, and Illuminated Mss., 3 vols. (London, 1854–1857), 2:464.

The allegorical elements portrayed in the oval frame surrounding the image of Van Schurman, however, have no associations with Van Dyck but rather belong to earlier Dutch traditions of portrait engravings. In a 1580 portrait of Josina Hamels by Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558 - 1617), for example, attributes of the sitter are symbolically arrayed within the framing device [fig. 2]   [fig. 2] Anonymous, Self Portrait after Anna Maria van Schurman, engraving, from Jacob Cats, s’Werelts begin midden en eynde, besloten in den trou-ringh, met den proef-steen van den selven, Dordrecht, 1637, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC, David K. E. Bruce Fund.[15]  [15]
For a discussion of this print, see Huigen Leeflang et al., Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617): Drawings, Prints, and Paintings (Amsterdam, 2003), 65–67, no. 17. In Jonson’s painting, the brushes, palette, and mahlstick at the lower left and the T square, compass, needlepoint of a tulip, and drawing at the upper left refer to Van Schurman’s artistic talents. Her erudition is alluded to by the globe and caduceus in the upper right as well as by the open book in the lower right. The lute on the right refers to her musical skills. Below her image two winged putti hold an unfurled banner between them. Although the banner is blank in the painting, an honorific Latin inscription written in 1661 by Constantijn Huygens appears in Van Dalen’s engraving of the work, which Clement de Jonghe published in three states in Amsterdam between around 1657 and 1661.[16]  [16]
The print is listed in J. F. van Someren, Beschrijvende catalogus van gegraveerde portretten van Nederlanders, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1888–1891), 3:232, no. 4862; and F. W. H. Hollstein, Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings, and Woodcuts, ca. 1450–1700, 71 vols. (Amsterdam, 1949), 5:120, no. 153. The Latin text reads: “Tanta fides caelo, tanta est fiducia, divae / Hoccine Schurmannae vultus in aere micet? / Disce gravis, Sculptor, quae sit vesaniacaepti: / Haec, ais, haec aevi sideris umbra tui est? / Tun’ similem praestis aetas cui nulla secundam / Edidit, et non est ulla datura parem? CONSTANTER.” Finally, the putto at the left supports a framed oval image of a laurel tree, symbolic of Van Schurman’s enduring fame.

In Utrecht Jonson specialized in large-scale portraits, and this small but exceptional monochromatic panel painting is unique in his known oeuvre. Preparatory paintings such as this grisaille are difficult to find; thus, it is challenging to pinpoint this painting’s genesis. The explanation for this exceptional work must lie in the artist’s desire to create a portrait engraving that celebrated the many talents of this famous sitter. The idea to celebrate this renowned woman could have come from Jonson himself, who had an experienced career in portraiture and printmaking, and who would have been familiar with Van Schurman through fellow artist and ex-patriot in England Jan Lievens (Dutch, 1607 - 1674).[17]  [17]
Lievens may have known Jonson through their work in the English court. Both artists also knew Constantijn Huygens, who corresponded frequently with Anna Maria van Schurman (and who was also the subject of a portrait painting by Lievens in 1628–1629). See Hilbert Lootsma, “Tracing a Pose: Govert Flinck and the Emergence of the Van Dyckian Mode of Portraiture in Amsterdam,” Simiolus 33, no. 4 (2007–2008): 221–236. Lievens also rendered a portrait of Van Schurman in 1649, and Van Schurman’s publications were being translated into multiple languages, including French and English. Jonson may also have felt a special connection with Van Schurman as they both had family roots in Cologne and were Protestants in a city that had a strong Catholic flavor. On the other hand, it may have been a collaborative effort from the start, considering that the National Gallery of Art painting was part of a project that involved at least three other individuals—Huygens, Van Dalen, and De Jonghe.

Regardless of who instigated this engraving, the image was related to one of Van Schurman that appeared in 1657 in Jacob Cats’ publication Alle de Wercken, soo oude als nieuwe (the print introduced the section titled “Proteus of Sinne- en minnebeelden”) [fig. 3]   [fig. 3] Steven van Lamsweerde, Anna Maria van Schurman, 1657, engraving, from Jacob Cats, Alle de Wercken, soo oude als nieuwe (Amsterdam, 1700), fol. 31, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC, David K. E. Bruce Fund. The artist, Steven van Lamsweerde (c. 1620–1686), a Utrecht engraver, derived his portrait from a bust-length self-portrait that Van Schurman had made in 1640, when she was thirty-three years old.[18]  [18]
This self-portrait, done in pastels on paper, is in 't Coopmanshus, Franeker. It is signed and dated “29 juni 1640 aetatis suae 33” on the verso. For this work, see Mirjam de Baar et al., eds., Choosing the Better Part: Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678), trans. Lynne Richards (Dordrecht, 1996), 42, pl. 5; and Constantijn Huygens, Gedichten, 4:310, whose poem is dated April 12, 1661 (reprinted in J. A. Worp, De gedichten van Constantijn Huygens, 9 vols. [Groningen, 1892–1899]). Although Jonson based his monochrome sketch on Van Lamsweerde’s print—including not only the curtain behind the sitter and the distant view of the Utrecht cathedral but also the illusionistic oval frame, a celebratory text, and allegorical elements that allude to Van Schurman’s many and varied scholarly and artistic accomplishments—he clearly sought to improve upon that misleading and mediocre antecedent. In Jonson’s portrait, the sitter, aged fifty, possesses a human dimension lacking in Van Lamsweerde’s print. She is at once more elegant and more thoughtful, a person capable of achieving the extaordinary level of intellectual, artistic, and spiritual inquiry that defined this remarkable woman.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.

April 24, 2014

Associated Names

Brocklebank, Ralph
Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Feder, Edith Mosler
Feder, Joseph Fuller
Jonghe, Clement de
McCrindle, Joseph F.
Russell, John Fuller Rev.
Sale, Amsterdam
Sale, The Hague
Six, Jan
Vries, Joan de