4.4 Cosmopolitan Rome
Of course, in terms of their numbers, Belgians and Dutch only represented a small part of the international community of Rome. It is striking how Robert (more so than Portaels, who spent less time in the Eternal City) regularly stressed this cosmopolitan character. In December 1845, for instance, he wrote:
’Rome is flooded with German artists: they arrive in frightening amounts: it is a real emigration. The number of Belgians, on the other hand, is getting smaller and smaller’.1
Artists' societies are a familiar feature of 19th-century cultural life.2 In Rome, the German clubs were by far the most well-known but associations from other nationalities, more or less organised, existed too.3 The Belgians’ membership of and participation in such societies is still insufficiently studied.
In December 1845, Robert wrote to Portaels that Louis Joseph Brüls (1803-1882) [13], Théodore de Schietere (1807-?) and Van der Ven were now part of the ‘new German society’. He added that he could not take part himself because of his ‘limited knowledge of the German language’.4 Nonetheless, his testimony is important to understand international artist clubs in Rome at that time. The Deutscher Künstlerverein, founded in 1845, replaced the older Ponte-Molle-Gesellschaft.5 One of the peak moments of this group’s activities was the famous artists’ carnival at Cervaro and Tor de' Schiavi on the Roman countryside. There are numerous testimonies of this annual celebration, both visual and in writing [14-15].6 Portaels himself gave a long, colourful description of the 1844 edition of this carnival, which shows how the international mix of artists present there made quite an impression on its participants: ‘The French fraternised with the English, the Russians embraced everyone, it was touching and hilarious at the same time’.7
Robert mentioned what seems to have been a response to the new Künstlerverein, namely the foundation of a French society. In 1846, he wrote how ‘our French society is working well’. He explained that, in order to cover the costs and amass ‘a small amount of capital’, each member had donated a drawing or a sketch, to be put up for auction. According to Robert, this was a huge success.8 Roberts observations are among the very few things we know about this ‘French society’. Further research about this club and the role of Belgian artists involved is needed.
13
Jacobus Everhardus Josephus van den Berg
Portrait of Louis Joseph Brüls (1803-1882)
Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, inv./cat.nr. RP-T-1940-480
14
Ippolito Caffi,
The Artists’ Feast at Tor de' Schiavi, ca. 1844,
oil on canvas, 86 x 132 cm,
Museo di Roma, inv. no. MR 350
15
Carl Steffeck (1818-1890),
Cervara-Fest in der Campagna, ca. 1840-1842,
oil on wood panel [study], 16,2 x 24,7 cm,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Alte Nationalgalerie, inv. no. A II 85[CD1],
photo Andres Kilger
Notes
1 ‘Rome dégorge d'artistes allemands: il en arrive d'une manière effrayante, c'est une véritable émigration. Le nombre des Belges, au contraire se restreint de plus en plus.’ Letter from Robert to Navez, Rome, 24 October 1845: Navez’ correspondence.
2 Morowitz/Vaughan 2018.
3 Pinto/Barroero 2003.
4 Letter from Robert to Portaels, Rome, 3 December 1845: Portaels’ correspondence.
5 Stolzenburg 2007.
6 For example, the painting by Ippolito Caffi (1809-1866): Festa degli artisti residenti a Roma a Tor de’ Schiavi, 1844, oil on canvas, Rome, Museo di Roma; Koelman 2023, p. 125-148; Grassi/Zangarini 1989. Further details on these festivities: the article by Michiel Roding in this collection.
7 ‘Les français fraternisaient avec les anglais, les russes embrassaient tout le monde, c’était touchant et en même temps à mourir de rire’. Letter from Portaels to his parents, Rome, 20 May 1844: Portaels’ correspondence.
8 Letter from Robert to Portaels, Rome, 3 April 1846: Portaels’ correspondence.