Pieter Jansz. Pourbus (c. 1523–1584) was a Flemish Renaissance painter, draftsman, engineer and cartographer who was active in Bruges during the 16th century. He is known primarily for his religious and portrait paintings.Pieter Pourbus at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
Pieter Pourbus was born in Gouda in 1523 or 1524. He moved to Bruges at the age of 20. Very little is known of his childhood and youth while living in Gouda; contemporary artists such as Karel Van Mander only make a brief mention of his origins in the city.
Early years in Gouda
His first biography was written by contemporary artist biographer Karel van Mander in his renowned Schilder-boeck (Book of Painters) of 1604, starting: "(...) I would not like to conceal any of the most special. That is why I wish to present Pieter Pourbus".Original text in Dutch:"[Evenwel] soud' ick niet geern eenige der besonderste verzwijgen. Daerom ick hier wil voor ooghen stellen Pieter Pourbus". Karel van Mander, 'Het leven van Pieter en Frans Pourbus, Schilders van Brugge', Haarlem, 1604, fol. 257r (via DBNL). Van Mander remembers him as "the painter of Bruges". The two met in 1580, when Van Mander fled the ravages of the Eighty Years' War and stayed in Bruges for a time.Huvenne, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), §1 page 9 Pourbus must have overwhelmed Van Mander with information about all of the sights of Bruges at that time, as he was the source for most of the information Van Mander provides regarding the Bruges school of painting.
At the time, Pourbus was not considered a native in Bruges itself. When he registered as a master painter with the guild of Sculptors and Saddlers in 1543 as "Pieter Jansyns Poerbus", he is noted as a "stranger" ('vrymde') in the records. He was 19 or 20 years old at the time, based on the mentions of his age in a number of documents. From there, we can deduce that he must have been born in 1523 or 1524. At the occasion of the exhibition on Pieter Pourbus at the Museum Gouda in 2018, Paul Abels wrote in the catalogue of this exhibition about the role Gouda played in his life by putting what little is known about his ties to the city in the context of late-medieval religious and social life in Gouda.Abels, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018) §.1, page 31
Abels has mentioned that the name 'Pourbus' features several times in Gouda at the start of the sixteenth century, but he adds that there is only one person in the Gouda city archives, a man named Jan Pieterssoen Pourbus, who could actually qualify as Pourbus' father. City accounts mention a payment made to him for "painting the board that stands in front of the window" in 1529. The mention is brief, but it corroborates Van Mander's claim about Pourbus' Gouda roots by another contemporary source.Streekarchief Midden-Holland, Archief van de star Gouda; Rekeningen van inkomsten en uitgaven van de tresoriers respectievelijk trésorier-ontvanger(s); 0001.1186 (1529), fol.19v. This finding was previously published in: De Groot 2011, p.101, footnote 27.Abels, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018) page 31, footnote 3 In addition, this source shows that his father was also a painter, although it is not possible to know what his real artistic skills were. The mention most likely refers to painting the town's coat of arms on a shutter.Abels, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 31
From Gouda to Bruges
Pourbus' moved to Bruges, perhaps because Bruges was known to be a city that produces excellent painting, although that reputation was waning when Pourbus arrived.
Bruges was familiar territory for Gouda residents. Pourbus would have heard many stories about the city of Bruges when growing up. The two cities were closely connected by the beer trade, which was the leading line of business in Gouda at the time. Before he went to Bruges, he may have studied his craft with Utrecht-based painters such as Jan van Scorel or the Leiden masters. Recent technical research suggests Leiden, more so than Utrecht.Abels, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 34, §2
Lucas van Leyden and Cornelis Engelbrechtsz died when Pourbus was still a child, but he may have come into contact with Engelbrechtsz's three sons, Cornelis, Lucas, and Pieter Cornelisz Kunst, who followed in their father's footsteps and became painters in their own right.van Oosterwijk, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 66
Pourbus in Bruges Shortly after he registered with the Bruges Guild of Saint Luke, Pieter Pourbus married Anna, the youngest daughter of painter Lancelot Blondeel. His marriage to the daughter of an established artist lacking any male heirs became very important for his reputation and further career as a painter.Abels, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 34 In 1545 or 1546, Pourbus' son, Frans ('the Elder'), was born, who later became a prominent artist in his own right.
Pourbus became a member of the Crossbowmen's Guild of St George and often visited the rhetorician meetings organised by the Chamber of the Holy Spirit. Blondeel, who was a well-respected person there, may have introduced him. Otherwise, very few concrete details of Pourbus' first few years in Bruges are known. It would appear that he initially operated as a student of Blondeel.Huvenne, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), §.1 page 11
Working in Blondeel's studio It remains unclear in some cases whether paintings from this period were the result of collaboration between Pourbus and Blondeel, or whether they were painted by Pourbus alone. An example of this is the painting The Seven Joys of the Virgin (c.1546), which today hangs in the Tournai Cathedral
Pourbus' smaller work The Last SupperPourbus made later five other depictions of the Last Supper (all of imposing size) in addition to the present painting, including the 1559 Triptych of the Brotherhood of the Sacrament (Saint James Church, Bruges) and that of 1562 in the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk, Bruges. The former still retains its original double-sided wings, the left one showing Melchisedech's Offering and the right one, Elijah Fed by the Angel. indicates that his father-in-law also introduced him to the 'Rederijker' or rhetorician circles of amateur poets and reciting artists. It depicts the Last Supper as described in the Refrains of the rhetorician Edward dan Dene. The idea that this painting was inspired to Pourbus by the rhetoricians plays was confirmed when the smaller Last Supper from 1548 surfaced in 2000 and could be linked by Samuel Mareel to the Chamber of the Holy Spirit.(en) Anne Van Oosterwijk, et al. The forgotten masters. Pieter Pourbus and Bruges painting from 1525 to 1625. [Ghent]: Snoeck, . . Catalogue of the exhibition at the Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Oct. 13, 2017 – Jan. 21, 2018. 336 pages, "Painters and Rhetoricians in Mid-Sixteenth century Bruges", pp. 85–93 The iconography is also noticeable, with the figure of a devil entering the room on the right of the painting.
Another work that dates back to Pourbus' early years in Bruges is his only remaining non-religious history work, An Allegory of True Love, currently part of the Wallace Collection in London. This work shows also how Pourbus style is truly innovative for his time.
His triptych The Baptism of Christ, which dates back to 1549 and now hangs in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, is one of the most famous examples of his early work.Huvenne, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 12
Independent work In 1549, Pourbus' name started to appear in a number of historical documents; he was named yearly, and sometimes even daily, in many official sources. During this period he received many notable commissions from the Brugse Vrije, such as the decorations for the Joyous Entry of Charles V and Philip II in 1549 ('Blijde intocht van Karel V en prins Filips in 1549'), a drawing for a new banquet hall,Huvenne, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 13 and the Last Judgment (Laatste Oordeel).Huvenne, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), §.2-page 13 Another prominent commission was his works for the mausoleum of Margaret of Austria at the Annunciation Convent in Bruges, parts of a commission Blondeel received in 1550 comprising a sculpted mausoleum, stained glass windows and paintwork. Among the paint works, Pourbus painted the Annunciation currently displayed at Museum Gouda. He also realised the drawings for the stained glass windows.de Fauw, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 69, §2.
Pourbus gradually became a popular portrait painter among the upper class, such as wine merchant Jan van Eyewerve and his wife Jacquemyne Buuck. In addition, Pourbus began to expressly date and sign his works in this period, indicative of the rise in his reputation and his growing artistic independence.
Active Guild member Around 1551, Pourbus became a prominent and active member of the council of the local Guild of St. Luke. He served two terms as dean of the guild and five terms as sworn elder. As an elder, he participated in quality checks on fellow guild members; for instance, he visited Simon Puseel in response to the latter's poor performance in gilding the dome of the Jerusalem Chapel in Bruges. As a dean, he acted to prevent paintings from Dordrecht being sold inside the city walls. He also defended the guild's interests several times in the leasing of land it owned in the province of Zeeland. Pourbus was also a very active member of the Bruges Guild of Sculptors and Saddlers.Huvenne, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), §.2-page 16
All these works paid off. In 1552, Pourbus bought the "Huis Rome" (the house called "Rome") on the Jan Miraelstraat, where he set up his own painting studio. Van Mander later wrote that Pourbus set up the best paint shop he had ever seen there.
An important cartographic activity
Pourbus produced many topographic maps during this period, which were intended to support surveyors' legal reports. He started to use a new methodology based on triangulation, according to the principles developed by his contemporary Gemma Frisius,de Wilde, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 246 which resulted in more accurate and very modern maps. It is not known exactly how Pourbus obtained this knowledge, but it is known that his father-in-law, Blondeel, was also a cartographer, and that his 1549 map of the canal between Damme and Sluis indicates that he was probably already using this new technique at that time, constituting a great innovative movement in the 1540s in Bruges.PhD Thesis Huvenne 1984, pp.464–468
By decision of 13 December 1561, the Liberty of Bruges granted him the order for the large map that Pourbus then produced for several years.G. Gyselen, 'Bij het portret van Francois van der Straten door Pieter Pourbus (1567)', Biekorf. Westvlaams archief voor geschiedenis, archeologie, taal- en volkskunde, 84e jaar (1984), aflevering 3, p. 258. The order is well documented in the archives of the city, throughout the years of its execution, and every year, where he regularly reported on his work. He received numerous advances of money, and still in 1567–1568.F. PRIEM, a.w. 2nd Series, T. IV, Accounts of the Franc, (Brugge 1846), blz. 18 e.v. He finished this large work in 1571.
Pourbus as an established artist
Portrait of a Noble Young Lady and other portraits
During this period Pourbus became notable for his portraits of nobility and wealthy merchants. Pourbus' Portrait of a Noble Young Lady (1554) is considered by many art historians, such as Paul Huvenne, former Director of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, to be one of the best examples of his portraiture.Huvenne, in: de Beyer & de Fauw (2018), page 18
Her dress and its distinctive lace collar allowed Huvenne, who discovered this painting, to date the portrait as having been painted before 1560. An IR examination conducted before the exhibition in Bruges in 2017 revealed that the portrait was done by Pourbus in 1554.