Allegory of the Arts, Title Page of an Odyssey Series

At the end of January 2020, before the corona pandemic paralyses the art world, a beautiful representative drawing by Matthijs Terwesten (1670-1757) was acquired. The museum did not yet have any work by this artist from The Hague in its collection. The painting depicts an allegory of the arts, with the central figure being a female personification of the art of painting, seated in front of a panel held upright by a putto, with a paintbrush and a bow in her hands. At her feet lie a bust, a torso and a modelling spatula, referring to the art of sculpture. The standing woman on the right is holding up a perspective drawing. Two more drawings lie on the ground. Above them, Hermes (Mercury) is balancing on one toe. Below right, we see three women, two of whom can be recognised by their attributes as personifications of Architecture (with a construction drawing) and Geometry (with a globe and a compass). In front of them sits a male personification of (possibly) History. The identification of the group below left, accompanied by Pallas Athene on a cloud, is not entirely clear. In the top left, Fama is floating, blowing her trumpet, accompanied by putti holding a banderole on which, in addition to the name of the artist and the year 1694, the title of a fifty-volume series of drawings of Ulysses is inscribed, of which 21 are now known.

Albert Elen
Senior Curator of Drawings and Prints