Peter Van Dievoet

Flemish sculptor active in Brussels and London

Peter van Dievoet
Born	Brussels
Baptised	29 June 1661
Died	2 March 1729 (68 years old) Brussels
Nationality	(1661–1714) : Spanish Netherlands (1714–1729) : Austrian Netherlands
Known for	Sculpture, architecture
Notable work	Statue of James II, Trafalgar Square and facades of buildings on the Grand-Place,
Style	Baroque, classical
Spouse	Dorothea de Witte

Elected	Guilds of Brussels, Drapery Court, Magistracy of Brussels.

Peter van Dievoet (/ˈdiːvʊt/; written in his native Dutch of the period as 'Peeter van Dievoet', in French literature referred to as 'Pierre Van Dievoet', Latin: Petrus; 1661–1729) was a Flemish Baroque sculptor, statuary, wood carver and designer of ornamental architectural elements active in Brussels and England. He is known for his work on a number of the Baroque guild houses on the Grand-Place (Brussels' main square), which was rebuilt after the bombardment of 1695, as well as on the Statue of James II on Trafalgar Square, London, made in collaboration with fellow Flemish sculptor Laurens van der Meulen. He was the half-brother of Philippe van Dievoet, goldsmith to King Louis XIV of France and the uncle of the Parisian printer Guillaume Vandive.

Life

Early years

Peter van Dievoet was born in Brussels as the son of Gillis van Dievoet (? - † before 1672), a burgher of Brussels, and Gertrudis Zeevaert. He was baptised at the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula (now Brussels' cathedral) on 29 June 1661. His father was previously married to Catarina Slachmeulder (or Catharina Slachmoelders), whose son Philippe van Dievoet later became a goldsmith to King Louis XIV of France. The young Peter became fatherless around the age of twelve or thirteen. His mother later remarried and died on 22 July 1705.

Residence in London (1680–1688)

He moved at some unknown date to England where he was a collaborator in the studio of (Rotterdam-born) English sculptor Grinling Gibbons from 1680 to 1688. Gibbons was mainly known as a sculptor for his fine carvings of floral motifs. Other experienced Flemish sculptors such as Artus Quellinus III (the son of Artus Quellinus II), John Nost, Anthony Verhuke and Laurens van der Meulen also worked in Gibbon's London workshop as "servants", i.e. collaborators. As these Flemish artists were not trainees they were never entered in the Draper's records.

Van Dievoet's English production (mainly sculptures) remains relatively unknown. In the Gibbons workshop he worked on various commissions but the contributions of the various artists active in the workshop are not always identifiable. George Vertue mentions van Dievoet only as statuary.

George Vertue found an agreement and a payment receipt for the bronze statue of James II (1686) made for the courtyard of Whitehall and currently placed on Trafalgar Square. Vertue attributed this work to a collaboration between van Dievoet and a certain Laurens of Mechelen. Margaret Whinney notes that this statue does not have an English but rather a continental character and gives it the same attribution: "two Flemings, Laurens of Mechelen and Dievot of Brussels (sic), were employed to model and make it." This attribution is repeated by Sir Lionel Henri Cust: "Dyvoet (sic) ... and Laurens ... who executed the statue of James II at Whitehall." The aforementioned Laurens was identified by Paul-Eugène Claessens as the Flemish sculptor Laurens van der Meulen from Mechelen.

Some studies for statues of probably Charles II or James II held in the British Museum are attributed to van Dievoet.

A bronze statuette of James II in the collection of the V&A, previously attributed only to Artus Quellinus III, has had its attribution changed in 2023 to possibly being by the hand of van Dievoet.

Return to Brussels (1689–1729)

He returned to Brussels as a result of the events arising from the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which had led to the deposition of the English King. In 1695, he became master of the Quatre-Couronnés at Brussels, the guild of stonemasons and sculptors. It is from this time that his work in Brussels begins. That same year, Brussels was largely destroyed by the French bombardment, which offered many opportunities for architects and sculptors in the rebuilding of the city. He was involved in the reconstruction of the Grand-Place in a Baroque style.

Public functions

Van Dievoet occupied various public offices. From 1713 to 1723, between ages 52 and 62, he was one of The Eight and then Dean (judge) of the Drapery Court, a Brussels institution comparable to a chamber of commerce, whose members were called the "brothers of the Guild". At the end of his term, he became a member of the magistrate as a Councilor of the City of Brussels from 1723 to 1724. After that, he left public life. A pious man, he had been, until the end of his life, a marguillier (churchwarden) of the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula.

He died in Brussels on 2 March 1729, at the age of 68.

Work

General

Long after van Dievoet's death, a report of the magistrates of Brussels to Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, dated 27 September 1771, quotes van Dievoet in a list of "very remarkable Brussels sculptors". From his Brussels work, only the pieces mentioned by Guillaume Des Marez are known. He is mainly known there for his design and execution of many of the guild houses of Brussels' Grand-Place.

The following works are described by Des Marez:

The House of the White Lamb

Main article: Maison de l'Agneau Blanc

The sculptures on the facade of the 1696 built House of the White Lamb (Maison de l'Agneau Blanc) on the Rue du Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt are the work of van Dievoet.

The Grand-Place

Main article: Grand-Place

Van Dievoet sculpted the facades of the following guild halls on the Grand-Place: La Maison du Sac (Grand-Place, number 4), La Maison du Cornet (number 6), La Maison de l'Arbre d'Or or the House of Brewers (number 10), La Maison de la Chaloupe d'Or (number 24-25). He was also the architect for Le Heaume (number 34).

La Maison du Sac
La Maison du Cornet
L'Arbre d'Or
La Maison de la Chaloupe d'Or
La Maison du Heaume

Wood carving

To van Dievoet are attributed some finely chiseled woodcarvings, such as the elaborate lime-wood ornamentation of festoons and fruits in the collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels. He also carved wooden "keerses" - richly decorated emblems that were used for celebrations of the tailors' guild of Brussels.

Arms

Coat of arms of Peter van Dievoet
	Notes These personal arms were recorded in 1713 in the roll of arms of the Drapery Court of Brussels and differ from those of his brother Jean-Baptiste and his branch of the family. Escutcheon Per pale Argent and Sable, on a tower embattled of three merlons counterchanged and gated of the field between in chief two mullets of six-points Gules and Or and in base a crescent counterchanged, an escutcheon per pale Or and Gules with a bordure counterchanged.

Gallery:

Peter van Dievoet's arms from roll of arms of the Drapery Court of Brussels
Van Dievoet's arms are featured on this roll of arms of the members of the Drapery Court of Brussels.

Notes and references

His work in Brussels is Baroque
The statue of James II is, unusually for the time, in a classical style.
He signed 'Peeter van Dievoet', act 208 of 21 November 1722 by the notary Jan Pilloy (General State Archives of Belgium, Notary-General of Brabant)
Éric Hennaut, "Les couleurs de la Grand-Place. Notes sur les parements des façades après le bombardement de 1695", in Autour du bombardement de Bruxelles de 1695. Désastre et relèvement, p. 65, note 11 : "A.G.R., Métiers et Sements de Brabant 286 (corporation des Brasseurs), comptes 1696-1701 ; A.G.R., Notariat Général de Brabant 1987 (notaire P. Van Cutsem), 18 mars 1697, contract for sculpture with Peter van Dievoet : Item sullen de aenbesteder moeten leveren de noodighe avendersteenen tot het maecken van de voors. wercken."
^ Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of painting in England: with some account of the principal artists; and incidental notes on other arts; collected by the late Mr. George Vertue ; and now digested and published from his original MSS. by Mr. Horace Walpole, London, 1765, vol. III, p. 91 : "Gibbons had several disciples and workmen; Selden I have mentioned; Watson assisted chiefly at Chatsworth, where the boys and many of the ornaments in the chapel were executed by him. Dievot of Brussels, and Laurens of Mechlin were principal journeymen — Vertue says they modelled and cast the statue I have mentioned in the privy-garden". According to David Green, in Grinling Gibbons, his work as carver and statuary (London, 1964), one Smooke sayd to Vertue that this statue "was modelled and made by Laurence and Devoot " ; George Vertue, Note Books, ed. Walpole Society, Oxford, 1930-47, vol. I, p.82 : "Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys", and ibidem IV, 50 : "Laurens a statuary of Mechlin... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country".
"Artistes, de père en fils". Site-LeVif-FR. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
Walériane Dubois, « Ces dynasties qui ont bâti Bruxelles : Les Van Dievoet – Créateurs polyvalents », in Le Vif Weekend, n°8, 5 November 2020, p. 65.
Brussels, registers of baptisms of Saint Gudula of 29 June 1661 : "29 Junius 1661. Petrus filius legitimus Ægidii Van Dievoet, et Gertrudis Zevart. Suscept : Amplissimus D. Petrus Stockmans Curiae Brab: Consiliarius, et Dlla Maria de Smet".
Cahiers bruxellois, Brussels, 2004, pp. 19-66.
Ingamells, John (2009). "James II". Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714. London: National Portrait Gallery. p. 130. *1688(sic) Bronze statue by Grinling Gibbons and Pierre van Dievoet, all'antica, baton in right hand, left on hip. National Gallery, London, forecourt, since 1948; commissioned by Tobias Rustat and erected in Pebble Court Whitehall, 1688. A similarly posed statue in stone, believed to have been set in the facade of the Royal Exchange, is now at Creech Grange, Dorset. Five related figure drawings attributed to Gibbons, but probably by van Dievoet are in the British Museum.
^ "Study for a statue, probably of Charles II or James II attributed to Peter van Dievoet". British Museum. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
^ Katherine Gibson, 'The emergence of Grinling Gibbons as a statuary', published in Apollo, September 1999, p. 28.
Ingamells, John (2009). "James II". Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714. London: National Portrait Gallery. p. 130. *1688(sic) Bronze statue by Grinling Gibbons and Pierre van Dievoet, all'antica, baton in right hand, left on hip. National Gallery, London, forecourt, since 1948; commissioned by Tobias Rustat and erected in Pebble Court Whitehall, 1688. A similarly posed statue in stone, believed to have been set in the facade of the Royal Exchange, is now at Creech Grange, Dorset. Five related figure drawings attributed to Gibbons, but probably by van Dievoet are in the British Museum.
David Esterly, Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving, Harry N. Abrams, 30 April 2013, pp. 45, 176, 209, 219224
"Gibbons, Grinling", in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 22, pp. 29–30 : "The attribution of these works is complicated by the presence of the highly trained Flemish sculptors whom Gibbons had gathered into his workshop by the end of the 1670s. These included Arnold Quellin (the nephew of Artus Quellinus I), John Nost, and Anthony Verhuke, joined in the next decade by, among others, Laurens Vander Meulen and Pierre Van Dievoet. Their experience and skill as makers of statues may have exceeded his own".
Lawrence. Dyvoet. statuarys (Notes Books, 1, 82.), ainsi que : Laurens a statuary of Mechlin... Dievot a statuary of Brussels both these artists were in England and assisted Mr. Gibbons in statuary works in K. Charles 2d. and K. James 2d. time, they left England in the troubles of the Revolution and retird to their own country (ibid. IV, 50).
Margaret Whinney, Sculpture in Britain, 1530 to 1830, London, 1964, p. 55.
Dictionnary of National Biography, vol. VII, p. 1140.
Paul-Eugène Claessens et Julien Cuypers, "Quand Bruxelles ravagée renaît plus belle sous les ailes de l'archange : le sculpteur Pierre van Dievoet, son œuvre et sa famille", in Intermédiaire des généalogistes, no. 121, Brussels, 1966, pp. 39–41
Ingamells, John (2009). "James II". Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714. London: National Portrait Gallery. p. 130. *1688(sic) Bronze statue by Grinling Gibbons and Pierre van Dievoet, all'antica, baton in right hand, left on hip. National Gallery, London, forecourt, since 1948; commissioned by Tobias Rustat and erected in Pebble Court Whitehall, 1688. A similarly posed statue in stone, believed to have been set in the facade of the Royal Exchange, is now at Creech Grange, Dorset. Five related figure drawings attributed to Gibbons, but probably by van Dievoet are in the British Museum.
"James II - Statuette - ca. 1680-85". Victoria & Albert Museum. ARTIST/MAKER: Quellin, Arnold (possibly) & Van Dievoet, Peter (possibly).
^ Armorial de la Gilde Drapière, Bibliothèque Royale, Cabinet des Manuscrit, ms. G123.
Alexandre Henne and Alphonse Wauters, Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles, Éditions culture et civilisation Bruxelles, 1975, Volume 2, pp. 507-508
Edmond Marchal, La sculpture et les chefs-d'œuvre de l'orfèvrerie belge, Brussels, 1895, p. 583
^ Guillaume Des Marez (Illustrated Guide of Brussels, Brussels, 1928).
Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels, Inventory 614, "encadrement ornemental attribué à Peter van Dievoet" (Brussels, 1661-1729).

External links

Media related to Peter van Dievoet at Wikimedia Commons

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