Statue of a standing Dionysus with a Satyr kneeling at his feet, from a suite of 100 etchings entitled Signorum Veterum Icones, Dutch, 1669.

Plate 5 from de Bisschop’s suite entitled Signorum Veterum Icones. The print shows in reverse a statue of Dionysus standing and looking downward, towards the satyr.

Jan de Bisschop (1628-1671), also known as Johannes Episcopius, was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He first studied to be become a lawyer but then abandoned the profession in order to study art with Bartholomeus Breenbergh (1598 c.-1657 c.), a Dutch painter specialising in Italianate landscapes. In 1656 de Bisschop took part in the foundation of the Confrerie Pictura, a club of artists, in The Hague.
He was particularly interested in the teaching of art and this resulted in his making two series of prints based on classical statues and on sixteenth and seventeenth century artists for students to draw from. The first of these suites is the Signorum Veterum Icones which was published by Nicolaes Visscher in two parts in 1668 and 1669 while the Paradigmata Graphices variorum artificum in 1671. The two volumes of the Icones were subsequently published in one single edition, together with the Paradigmata. The Icones comprises of a suite of 100 plates of reproductive prints of sculptures, including a large number of well known statues of the Greek and Roman period. The second suite, the Paradigmata, consists of 57 reproductive plates of paintings and sculptures by Italian and Dutch sixteenth and seventeenth century artists.
This plate was acquired by the Museum along with eight other prints from the Icones (Museum numbers 29627.61-29627.69).
The print represents a marble group with Dionysus, Greek god of wine, with a satyr kneeling at his feet. He is shown completely naked apart from a small piece of drapery on his right shoulder. In both his hands the god holds a patera, a dish used for rituals. In the original statue the join points of the restoration at the figure’s knees, neck and arms are visible. These marks are not shown in the print.
The study of naked young bodies was especially important in the instruction of an artist. Statues such as this provided models from which artists could study from. This statue of the Dionysus was in the collection of the Medici family since the end of the sixteenth century. It is now held in Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

This suite of 100 prints by de Bisschop comprises of classical sculptures housed in Dutch and Italian collections in the seventeenth century. Ancient statues were highly regarded as works of art, in particular by artists who admired their representation of anatomy, drapery and poses. This suite includes some of the most important sculptures, from various view points, from which the artist could study.

29627:63