Lot Essay
The ruins in this drawing are based on architectural fragments that appear in the artist's etchings after Cornelis van Poelenburgh (Hollstein 25 and 28).
Bronkhorst, an amateur artist from Leiden, was one of the artists who worked for Agnes Block (1629-1704), niece of the poet Joost van den Vondel, at her seat Vijverhof on the Vecht. Others who received commissions from Block included Pieter Withoos, Herman Saftleven, Otto Marseus van Schrieck, Rochus van Veen and Maria Sibylla Merian. Bronkhorst moved to Hoorn in 1670, where Herman Henstenburgh (1667-1726) became his pupil. Bronkhorst also painted more exotic birds and animals such as ostrichs, ant eaters, lions, elephants and others, such as in the bodycolours in the Unicorno Collection (C. Dumas, R.-J. te Rijdt, Kleur en Raffinement, Tekeningen uit de Unicorno collectie, exhibition catalogue, Zwolle/Amsterdam/Dordrecht, 1994, nos. 27-32).
Bronkhorst, an amateur artist from Leiden, was one of the artists who worked for Agnes Block (1629-1704), niece of the poet Joost van den Vondel, at her seat Vijverhof on the Vecht. Others who received commissions from Block included Pieter Withoos, Herman Saftleven, Otto Marseus van Schrieck, Rochus van Veen and Maria Sibylla Merian. Bronkhorst moved to Hoorn in 1670, where Herman Henstenburgh (1667-1726) became his pupil. Bronkhorst also painted more exotic birds and animals such as ostrichs, ant eaters, lions, elephants and others, such as in the bodycolours in the Unicorno Collection (C. Dumas, R.-J. te Rijdt, Kleur en Raffinement, Tekeningen uit de Unicorno collectie, exhibition catalogue, Zwolle/Amsterdam/Dordrecht, 1994, nos. 27-32).