by Charlotte Christensen and Lawrence W. Nichols

It is a curious paradox that the addition to an artist's oeuvre of a previously unknown or unrecognized picture is both illuminating and mystifying. As to be expected, the appearance of a heretofore unrecorded painting or the identification of a misattributed picture supplements our knowledge of the scope and character of a painter's activity. But simultaneously such a discovery suggests just how deceptively incomplete this understanding may in fact be. This phenomenon is well illustrated by the many recent developments concerning the paintings of Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617).[1] It is the purpose of this essay to publish another such finding.[2]

The painting illustrated in fig. 1 has been on deposit since 1923 at Koldinghus, King Christian IV's castle in Kolding, from The Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.[3] It is a large canvas, measuring 189 by 248 centimeters, and represents the Ovidian story told in Metamorphoses 3:26-94 of Cadmus slaying the dragon, as well as the previous episode of the dragon devouring Cadmus's companions, two of whom are depicted here. The picture, illustrated here after a recent cleaning, does not reveal a signature or date, and currently bears an attribution to Reinhold Thim (?-1639), an artist known to have worked for Christian IV during the years 1618- 1634.[4] On stylistic grounds, however, it can be demonstrated that the Koldinghus painting may be attributed to Goltzius, approximately one-third of whose painted oeuvre is comprised of mythological subjects, who was well acquainted with the Cadmus story.[5] But before embarking on the reasons for Goltzius's authorship, an account of what is known about the picture's provenance is in order, as is a more complete consideration of its attribution history.

 

No record of any painting attributed to Goltzius that remotely resembles Cadmus, His Companions, and the Dragon is known from any Dutch sale catalogue, inventory, or published account.[6] This fact, in conjunction with the documentation of such a picture in Denmark presented below, leads one to believe that the picture left Holland at a very early date. One of its original owners, if not the first, was in all likelihood King Christian IV of Denmark (reigned 1588-1648), though no document that can definitely be linked with the purchase of the painting has so far come to light. Nonetheless, a series of documents pertaining to art works bought by Christian IV or offered for sale to him by foreigners does permit has to gain a broad idea of the Danish king's taste for Dutch pictures and the extent of his collection, both substantially more remarkable than can be guessed at today from the few surviving paintings in Danish and Swedish collections.[7]

When the Danish diplomat, Dr. Jonas Charisius was in The Hague in 1607-1608 in connection with the peace initiative, he purchased approximately 150 Dutch and Flemish paintings as well as a number of musical instruments for Christian IV.[8] That the paintings of Goltzius were a known commodity to Christian IV is manifested by two offers made to him in the 1620s.[9] In 1621 there was a correspondence between the poet and Burgundian knight, Theodor Rodenburg, in Amsterdam, and the king concerning the offer for sale of as many as 350 paintings valued at 20,000 rigsdaler. No subjects are given, but the names of the artists cited, including `Henricus Goltius,' forms a veritable index of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Netherlandish painters. Apparently, for reasons unknown, the deal never came off, but it cannot be entirely excluded that some of the pictures came to Denmark and that the present Goltzius painting was one of them.[10] Three years later, in 1624, a certain `Fransooes Bastijansen' brought a large number of paintings to Copenhagen Castle for Christian IV to choose from. In the list of paintings offered appear four works bearing the name Goltzius, though none is our Cadmus.[11]

Though it is not possible to identify Cadmus, His Companions, and the Dragon in any of these three major lists of paintings purchased by or offered for sale to Christian IV, it would seem that in all probability it was once in his possession. Quite possibly Pieter Isaacsz., the painter and art advisor to the king, had something to do with its acquisition, either directly or indirectly. In any case, inventories of the Kunstkammer at Copenhagen Castle from the late seventeenth century onwards include notices that can be associated with the painting. This Kunstkammer was the creation of King Frederick III (reigned 1648-70), who brought together items from the collections of his predecessors and new purchases. By at least 1650 the Kunstkammer seems to have been an established institution, as a certain Christopher Proph from Holstein was then nominated its Opvarter (keeper). In the 1670s the Kunstkammer was moved to a new building, adjacent to Copenhagen Castle, constructed to house the collections and the library of the king. Unfortunately it cannot be ascertained when Cadmus entered the Kunstkammer. The picture is not included in the earliest inventory of 1673-1674.

The first written evidence for a painting representing the Cadmus story as being in the Danish royal collection is found in the 1689 inventory of the Kunstkammer, partly published subsequently in Museum Regium of 1696. There mention is made of 'Et Skilderie om Cadmo' Painting about Cadmus') in the `Gallery'.[12] From the following year, 1690, there is a second inventory with the same description and location for the painting.[13]. In a further inventory of 1690, the basis of the official inventory of 1737, a much more extensive description is given, with mention for the first time of the name of the painter. Once again in the `Gallery' we now read (in translation): 'A large painting that represents Cadmus killing the dragon in life-size figures by Hunthorst.'[14] No such painting by Gerrit or Willem van Honthorst is known in the literature, and it is certainly reasonable to imagine that the compiler, not acquainted with the paintings of Goltzius, merely labeled the picture with another Dutch painter's name far more familiar to him.[15] The name Honthorst is again given to the picture at the end of the eighteenth century,[16] and this attribution remained with the painting into the following century. When the royal collections were reorganized and split up into various autonomous collections in the early nineteenth century, Cadmus, His Companions, and the Dragon found its way to Frederiksborg Castle. Inventories dating from 1827 and 1851-1855 include the picture, still with the name Honthorst attached to it.[17] The painting somehow escaped the disastrous fire at Frederiksborg in 1859 and was eventually registered as the possession of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, from whence it reached its present location in Koldinghus Castle.