Not on display

The Oath of the Victors

Relief
ca. 1578-80 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of a series of roundels depicting the 'Spanish Fury' of 1576 and the liberation of Antwerp in August 1577. Between 4 and 6 November 1576 mercenaries in the Spanish service launched a full-scale attack on Antwerp (see A.38-1975). Over 2500 citizens were murdered and 100 houses burned down, including the magnificent Town Hall. In August 1577, however, the Netherlandish coalition overthrew the Spanish troops in the Citadel, as depicted in the plaquette A.34-1975. They then negotiated with the German mercenaries to withdraw (see A.36-1975). This roundel depicts the Oath of the Victors (2 August 1577), illustrating the moment when the generals Bours (left), Roeck (centre) and Liedekerke (right) swore loyalty to the Estates General, before a crowd of soldiers.

The compositions of these bronze plaquettes, of which the V&A holds six (A.33-1975 to A.38-1975), are closely related to a set of seven engravings by the Wierix brothers, after designs by Marten de Vos, published in Antwerp in 1578-79. Five of the original drawings by Marten de Vos are known: four are at the Ashmolean Museum (including the design for this scene, WA1996.322) and one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Comparison of the plaquettes with the drawings and engravings to which they are related indicates, as Jeremy Warren has argued, that the plaquettes derived from the drawings, not the engravings, and thus that the plaquettes were very likely made before the prints. No complete set of seven plaquettes has survived; other partial sets, in lead, are at the Ashmolean and the Rijksmuseum.

Charles Avery attributed the plaquettes to the medallist and bronze sculptor, Jacques Jonghelinck, who was appointed head of the Mint of Antwerp in 1572. In that role, he would have worked for the Spanish Habsburgs, so it might be surprising that he would then take on these anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish subjects. The attribution, therefore, remains tentative. (Last updated March 2025)

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Oath of the Victors (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Brief description
Relief, bronze, The Oath of the Victors (2 August 1577), attributed to Jacques Jonghelinck (1530-1606), Flemish, about 1578-80
Physical description
The scene illustrates the moment when the generals Bours (left), Roeck (centre) and Liedekerke (right) swear loyalty to the Estates General, before a crowd of soldiers. In the background, at centre, an empty rectangle indicates the former site of the bronze statue of the Duke of Alva, which had been taken down in 1574. At the top is a personification of Victory.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 17.8cm
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the bequest of M. L. Horn and the J. R. Vallentin Fund
Object history
Whole series (A.33 to A.38-1975) bought for £2,400 with the assistance of the bequest of M. L. Horn and the J. R. Vallentin Fund, from David Peel & Co Ltd, London, in 1975.

Historical significance: One of a series of six related plaquettes (A.33-1975 to A.38-1975). The compositions are closely related to, and appear to derive from, drawings by Marten de Vos, which were later engraved by the Wierix brothers. The series depicts the 'Spanish Fury' of 1576 and the liberation of Antwerp in August 1577. Between 4 and 6 November 1576 mercenaries in the Spanish service launched a full-scale attack on Antwerp (see A.38-1975). Over 2500 citizens were murdered and 100 houses burned down, including the magnificent Town Hall. In August 1577, however, the Netherlandish coalition overthrew the Spanish troops in the Citadel, as depicted in A.34-1975. They then negotiated with the German mercenaries to withdraw (see A.36-1975).
Historical context
This is one of a series of roundels depicting the 'Spanish Fury' of 1576 and the liberation of Antwerp in August 1577.
Place depicted
Association
Summary
This is one of a series of roundels depicting the 'Spanish Fury' of 1576 and the liberation of Antwerp in August 1577. Between 4 and 6 November 1576 mercenaries in the Spanish service launched a full-scale attack on Antwerp (see A.38-1975). Over 2500 citizens were murdered and 100 houses burned down, including the magnificent Town Hall. In August 1577, however, the Netherlandish coalition overthrew the Spanish troops in the Citadel, as depicted in the plaquette A.34-1975. They then negotiated with the German mercenaries to withdraw (see A.36-1975). This roundel depicts the Oath of the Victors (2 August 1577), illustrating the moment when the generals Bours (left), Roeck (centre) and Liedekerke (right) swore loyalty to the Estates General, before a crowd of soldiers.

The compositions of these bronze plaquettes, of which the V&A holds six (A.33-1975 to A.38-1975), are closely related to a set of seven engravings by the Wierix brothers, after designs by Marten de Vos, published in Antwerp in 1578-79. Five of the original drawings by Marten de Vos are known: four are at the Ashmolean Museum (including the design for this scene, WA1996.322) and one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Comparison of the plaquettes with the drawings and engravings to which they are related indicates, as Jeremy Warren has argued, that the plaquettes derived from the drawings, not the engravings, and thus that the plaquettes were very likely made before the prints. No complete set of seven plaquettes has survived; other partial sets, in lead, are at the Ashmolean and the Rijksmuseum.

Charles Avery attributed the plaquettes to the medallist and bronze sculptor, Jacques Jonghelinck, who was appointed head of the Mint of Antwerp in 1572. In that role, he would have worked for the Spanish Habsburgs, so it might be surprising that he would then take on these anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish subjects. The attribution, therefore, remains tentative. (Last updated March 2025)
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Warren, Jeremy, Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture. A Catalogue of the Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2014 vol. 3, cat. 499-503, pp. 1034-1045
  • Avery, Charles, "Antwerp, August 1577 - the 'Spanish Fury' and the Liberation of the Citadel: a series of bronze plaquettes after Martin de Vos", in: Avery, C., Studies in European Sculpture, London, 1981, pp. 133-147
  • Weber, I. Deutsche, Niederländische und Französische Renaissance Plaketten. Munich, 1975, p. 307, No. 709, 1, pl. 195
Collection
Accession number
A.35-1975

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Record createdJanuary 21, 2004
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