RKD STUDIES

In the wake of the initiative taken in 1666 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) to found a French Academy in Rome, most European powers institutionalised the Italian journey as the ultimate stage in the education of promising artists. At the beginning of the 19th century, before Belgium became an autonomous political entity, the so-called Grand Tour was already an established custom among painters, sculptors, architects and engravers from the Low Countries.¹ Some travellers had to thank the French system for financing their trip, while others benefited from the Prix de Rome that was installed in 1817 in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. In addition to these national scholarships, regional grants offered further funding opportunities.²

A 19-year-old Louis Jéhotte (1803–1884) was one of the beneficiaries of these alternative allowances. With a travel grant from the Darchis Foundation, which financed the Roman sojourn of ecclesiastics and artists originating from Liège or its vicinities, Jéhotte arrived in Rome in 1823.³ He stayed for seven years. Although biographical information is scarce for this period of his life, it is known that he went to the Accademia di San Luca, where he received a prize for a study of a nude model in 1824. It is perhaps more relevant to note, however, that he also attended Mathieu Kessels’ (1784–1836) workshop.⁴

Kessels, a neoclassical sculptor, was born in Maastricht but worked mainly in Rome. Soon after his arrival in Rome in 1818, he managed to draw the attention of Canova by taking part in a competition organised by the latter, and by winning it with the contribution of a sculpture of Saint Sebastian.⁵ Moreover, he started working in the studio of Bertel Thorvaldsen, a collaboration that would last for four years.⁶ The Dane’s reputation was widespread at that time. While Kessels assisted him in the workshop, Thorvaldsen added several sculptures to his portfolio, which would only reinforce his fame. Cupid and the Graces and the Dying Lion (also known as The Lucerne Lion) were created in 1819, Hebe took shape between 1819 and 1823 and Mercury About to Kill Argus was modelled in 1822.⁷

2
Berthel Thorvaldsen,
Relief, representing a personification of the Night, ca. 1815,
marble, diameter 80 cm, original in Thorvaldsens Museum, Kopenhagen.
Photograph Sophus Williams, Berlin 1879,
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. no. RP-F-F19097

3
Berthel Thorvaldsen,
Relief, representing a personification of the Day, ca. 1815,
marble, diameter 80 cm, original in Thorvaldsens Museum, Kopenhagen,
photograph Sophus Williams, Berlin 1879,
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. no. RP-F-F19096

It is not known whether Kessels worked on these major works. According to his biographers, however, he sculpted the marble versions of Night and Day, two reliefs dating back to around 1815, based on the original models by Thorvaldsen [2-3].⁸ At the same time, the artist developed his own original oeuvre: he finished his Resting Discobolos in 1819, worked on Amor Sharpening an Arrow from around 1822 until 1824, and developed his Standing Discobolos [4] and Mars Resting [5] between 1828 and 1829. He also executed the marble version of the burial monument for Louise de Timbrune-Valence, Countess of Celles (1787-1828) in the church of San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi in Rome.

Kessels was an important intermediary for the Belgian artists who sojourned in the Eternal City. Indeed, it is more than likely that Kessels was the man who introduced Jéhotte to Thorvaldsen around 1827. We have evidence that the young artist received advice from the Danish master.⁹ The young Eugène Simonis (1810–1882), another Liège-born artist who received a Darchis grant, also became an apprentice of Kessels as soon as he reached Rome in 1830. Additionally, Simonis attended the drawing sessions organised by the Scuola del Nudo of the Accademia di San Luca, and from the autumn of 1834 onwards, he joined the ones held at the Villa Medici.¹⁰ This was a privilege that he shared with his compatriots Jean-Antoine Verschaeren (1803-1863), Antoine Wiertz (1806-1865) and Gustave De Man (1805-1887).¹¹

6
Eugène Simonis,
The Unhappy Toddler / The Broken Drum / The Child with the Drum, 1842,
plaster, 47 x 83 x 40.5 cm,
Royal Museums of Fine Art of Belgium, Brussels, inv. no. 3136

Simonis’ artistic production during his Roman period (between 1830 and 1836) is characterised by representations of young children expressing a certain ‘cuteness’ [6]. In the oeuvre of Mathieu Kessels, similar themes can be found [7]. Certain compositions are reminiscent of sculptures from the Hellenistic period preserved in the papal collections [8]. It was, however, Carlo Finelli (1782–1853) who directly and mainly influenced Simonis to adopt this sensual variant of neoclassicism.¹² Finelli was the creator of the well-known Cupid with a Butterfly, and had been a student and close associate of Canova in his younger days.¹³ A cursory examination suffices to convince the observer that Simonis’ Girl with a Skipping Rope (1838–1839) [9], for instance, is a tribute to Finelli’s The Three Graces (1824) also known as Three Dancing Horae (hours) [10].