Meerhafen mit Segelschiffen

Peter Stevens II (1567–1626) of Mechelen, master

in Antwerp by 1589, was appointed Kammermaler

(Imperial Chamber Painter) to Holy Roman

Emperor Rudolf II (r. 1576–1612) on April 15,

1594. He apparently made the present drawing,

which can be dated to the late 1590s, at the court

in Prague. However, its subject speaks of distant

countries, perhaps even memories of personal

travel.1 The sheet features a view over a wide

bay enclosed by mountain ridges, the elevated

viewpoint suggesting that we, as beholders, are

also standing on a mountaintop. This makes the

landscape a fjord of sorts,2 albeit with a clear

Mediterranean flavor. The latter is conveyed by the

ships: of distinctly southern types such as the galley

at anchor, its oars uplifted (fig. 1), and the Venetian

gondolas in the foreground, as well as the barges

with long booms and sunshields.3 They are joined

by large two- and three-masters of Netherlandish

origin,4 apparently merchant vessels that made it

far south. Also Mediterranean, although imaginary,

is the architecture of the distant cities (fig. 2).

Whereas the octagonal tower may be a product of

the artist’s fantasy, the building on the hill with the

cupola is reminiscent of one of Stevens’s drawings

of the Temple of the Sybil in Tivoli,5 and a drawing

of Ponte Rotto may have served as model for the

arched bridge.6

Drawings such as the present sheet were certainly

not created for the sake of topographic accuracy,

but to satisfy a demand for the distant: stimulating

wanderlust or serving as a substitute for it.7 The airy

blue washes, creating a hazy atmosphere, contribute

to this effect, as do the figures, luring us into the

pictorial reality. Clearly an independent artwork

despite its missing signature,8 Stevens’s Seaport with

Sailing Ships undoubtedly appealed to the taste of

contemporary viewers, especially with its expansive

allusions to far-reaching trade, the foundation of

Northern prosperity.

Somewhere around 1600, the drawing served as

model for a print by Hendrik Hondius I (1573–1650),

Christ Teaching the Parable of the Wheat and Tares

from the Ship (fig. 3). Hondius modified the staffage

according to the change of subject, placing Christ in

one of the Venetian gondolas, recasting the tradespeople

as listeners to his sermon, and inventing new

foreground staffage that encompasses all ages and

genders. It was perhaps also Hondius who drew over

the rocks to the left, enhancing their ragged shape

with darker ink that matches the contours in the

etching.

 

1. A compositionally related, though smaller drawing in Berlin

by Stevens, Coast View, 1597, pen and brown ink, brush and blue

wash, on paper, 14.6 x 20.4 cm, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche

Museen, Berlin, KdZ 12094; Fillitz 1988, no. 269, bears an

inscription apparently referring to travel experiences: fecit in

prage per memori (in Prague, from memory); see Zwollo in Fillitz

1988, 395.

2. A related type of view is found in a painting by Stevens: View

through High Cliffs toward the Sea, oil on canvas, 33 x 48 cm,

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2025; Zwollo 1968, fig. 191.

3. For such types, see a drawing attributed to Jan de Momper

(1617–1684/93), Sailboats in front of the Pier, pen and brown ink,

brush and brown wash, over graphite, on toned paper, 22.7 x

33.3 cm, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 21796; Stefes 2011, no. 680.

4. See the examples given by Akveld in Giltay and Kelch 1996,

23–33.

5. Peter Stevens II, Road along an Old Castle Wall, n.d.,

pen and gray ink, brush and wash, watercolor, on paper,

20.5 x 15.4 cm, Szépmu˝vészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1376;

Gerszi 1971, 1:86, no. 253, 2:251. The artist drew this in Prague,

probably processing his memories of Italy.

6. Peter Stevens II, The Ponte Rotto in Rome, before 1598,

pen and black and brown inks, brush and gray and blue washes,

on paper, 18.3 x 31.2 cm, Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden, C 1926-1;

Ketelsen et al. 2011, 258–59, Tableau XXXIV. Although a journey

to Rome is still lacking documentary evidence (see Meijer

in De Liedekerke and Devisscher 1995, 352–54), it may be

supported by the fact that this drawing shows the state of the

bridge prior to 1598.

7. On travelling becoming desirable in early modern civic

culture, see Bartilla 2000, 99.

8. There may have been an autograph inscription, though, at the

verso in upper center, partially shining through. Meanwhile,

judging from the different tone of ink, the monogram PS

apparently was added later, most likely by the same hand that

drew the framing line.

 

Emily J. Peters, Laura M. Ritter (Hg.), AK Tales of the City. Drawing in the Netherlands from Bosch to Bruegel, Cleveland Museum of Art 9.10.2022 - 8.1.2023, New Haven 2022, Kat. Nr. 19