Jan de Bisschop

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Jan de Bisschop
1628-1671
Panoramic View of Rome
Pen and brown ink, brown, red-brown, and blue washes, over black chalk, on paper.
Sheet 1: 14 x 19 5/8 inches (355 x 500 mm); sheet 2: 13 13/16 x 19 3/4 inches (352 x 502 mm)
Purchased as the gift of the Fellows.
1968.6:1-2

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Notes: 

In two parts. Originally the drawing was executed on two sheets of paper joined together; the join is evident to the left of center. Some time in the eighteenth century or earlier, the drawing was cut to the right of this join and divided into two equal parts.

Inscription: 

Part 1: Inscribed on the verso across the lower half, by the artist, in brown ink (reading in the order of the monuments represented on the recto), "Horti Medicei; S. Trinità de' Monti; Palatium Pontifi / cis in Quirinali; Mons Pincius olim Collis hortulorum; Capitolium; Columna Antonini; Aventinus; il Giesù; Pantheon / hod. La Rotonda; S. Andrea della Valle; S. Agnese; S. Maria del'Anima"; and at upper center edge, in an old hand, in graphite, "No. ["o" in superscript] 789". Inscribed on the mount, in the lower right corner, in another hand, in brown ink, "no. ["o" in superscript] 24".
Part 2: Inscribed on the verso at upper right, by the artist, in brown ink, "Gesicht van Romen buyten Porta del popolo"; below this, in the hand of Johan van der Marck AEgzn, in graphite, "Door Joan De Bisschop"; across the lower half, by the artist, in brown ink (reading in the order of the monuments represented on the recto), "Monte Mario; S. Maria in Valli / cella vulgo La Chiesa / Nova; Palatium / Sfortiae ["e" in superscript]; S. Maria del popolo; Porta del popolo seu Flaminia; MontesÖVaticani; S. Gio. Batta ["a" in superscript] de' Fiorentini; Castel S. Agnolo seu / Moles Adriani; S. Spirito in Sassia; Palatium Columnensium; Santo Officio; Tiberis; S. Pietro in Vaticano; Prata Quintia vulgo sed rectius Neroniana; Belvedere"; and at the lower center, possibly in the hand of Ploos van Amstel, in black chalk, "h. 13 d / b. 40 d". Inscribed on the old mount, underneath the drawing: at the lower right within the border, in another hand, in graphite, Lco ["c" in superscript, "o" in subscript]:ao:-"; and in the lower right corner, outside the border, in brown ink, "no. ["o" in superscript] 24"; an inscription formerly on the verso of the mount, apparently in graphite or black chalk(?), "N. 21 komt uit Gerrit Braamkamps VerklÖ", is no longer visible.
Sheet 1: Watermark: Fleur-de-lis in shield, surmounted by crown, over 4 and "WR"; Strasbourg lily.
Sheet 1: Countermark: letters "IHS" with a cross (Christogram) (similar to Heawood, no. 1785: 1670); Cross rising from crossbar of "H", placed across two chain lines, probable twin to sheet 2.
Sheet 2: Watermark: Fleur-de-lis in shield, surmounted by crown, over 4 and "WR" (Strasbourg lily).
Sheet 2: Countermark: letters "IHS" with a cross (Christogram) (similar to Heawood, no. 1785: 1670); Cross rising from crossbar of "H", placed across two chain lines.

Provenance: 
Jeronimus Tonneman (1688-1750), Amsterdam; his mother, Maria Tonneman (née van Breusegom; d. 1752), Amsterdam; her sale, Amsterdam, de Leth, 21 October 1754, Album B, lot 10: "Une Vue de Rome de côté de la Porte del Polulo..." (to "Kok" for 19 fl.); Gerret Braamkamp (1699-1771), Amsterdam (according to inscription formerly on the verso of the mount of Part 2); his sale, Amsterdam, van der Schley...IJver, 31ff. July 1771, Album A, lot 21: "Een Gezicht van een hoogte over de Stad Romen te zien; zeer uitvoerig getekend door J. Bisscop. Hoog. 14, en breed 39 duim"; Johan van der Marck AEgzn (1707-72), Leiden (Lugt 3001); his sale, Amsterdam, de Winter & IJver, 29 November 1773, lot 1999 (to C. Smitt); Coenrad Smitt, Amsterdam; his sale, Amsterdam, Melissen...Goldberg, 4 December 1780, Album K, lot 713: "'t Gezigt van de Stad Romen, buiten Porto del Popolo, naar 't Leeven, met de pen en roet geteekend, h. 13, br. 40 duim." (to "Metijer" [Metayer]); Louis Metayer (1728-99), Amsterdam; possibly his sale, Amsterdam, van der Schley...Roos, 16ff. December 1799, Album H, lot 38: "Twee stuks Gezigten by Rome, met verscheidene beeldjes gestofferd; met de pen en roet; door J. de Bisschop" (to "Jolles" for 10.0 fl.); Cornelis Ploos van Amstel Jb Czn (1726-98), Amsterdam (possibly his mount; Lugt 3004); possibly his sale, Amsterdam, van der Schley...Roos, 3ff. March 1800, Album NNN, containing 170 drawings "door den grooten Kunstenaar JOANNES DE BISSCHOP" (including views of Rome, statues, bas-reliefs, medallions, etc.); John MacGowan (d. 1803), Edinburgh (Lugt 1496); his sale, London, T. Philipe, 26 January-4 February 1804, lot 57: "A long view of Rome, on two sheets, representing the whole extent of that renowned city, as it was about 170 years ago; freely executed with an exquisite light pen. The foreground is mostly covered with trees, which are shaded with bistre, and the city and distant ground are in fine keeping, skillfully and lightly tinged with indigo, the whole in perfect harmony. The names of the principal edifices are marked on the back. A curious and rare design." (to "Williams" for £1.1.0); Sir William Forbes (1773-1828), 7th Baronet of Pitsligo; presumably his descendants, including Mrs. Peter Somervell, Fettercairn House, Kincardinshire; their sale, London, Sotheby's, 28 March 1968, lot 89, repr.; acquired from R.M. Light and Co., Boston.
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Associated names: 

Tonneman, Jeronimus, 1688-1750, former owner.
Tonneman, Maria, d. 1752, former owner.
Braamcamp, Gerret, former owner.
Marck, Johan van der, 1707-1772, former owner.
Smitt, Coenrad, former owner.
Metayer, Louis, 1728-1799, former owner.
Ploos van Amstel, Cornelis, 1726-1798, former owner.
MacGowan, John, -1803, former owner.
Forbes, William, Sir, 7th Baronet of Pitsligo, 1773-1828, former owner.
Somerwell, Peter, Mrs., former owner.

Bibliography: 

Pierpont Morgan Library. Review of Acquisitions, 1949-1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 131.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Sixteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969-1971. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1973, p. 109.
Pierpont Morgan Library. Major Acquisitions of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1924-1974. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1974. Vol. 2: Drawings, no. 43, repr.
Stampfle, Felice. Rubens and Rembrandt in Their Century : Flemish and Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century from The Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1979, no. 118, repr.
Denison, Cara D., and Helen B. Mules, with the assistance of Jane V. Shoaf. European Drawings, 1375-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1981, no. 85, repr.
Jane Shoaf Turner, with contributions by Felice Stampfle, Dutch Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library: Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries, New York, 2006, cat. no. 29.

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