RKD STUDIES

Kleyn, Philippeau, and Stöver set off for Rome in 1851, part of a steady flow of northern European artists heading south to complete their training in the Eternal City. The exact date of their arrival is unknown, but traces of their first months survive in memoirs and photographs. Johan Philip Koelman (1818-1893), a fellow painter, recalled seeing them soon after their arrival at the Caffè Greco on the Via Condotti.¹ That same year the three friends also sat for a portrait [3] with an anonymous photographer. The salt print, inscribed “Roma, 1851” shows them informally posed, arm in arm. Perhaps meant as nothing more than a souvenir, it is nonetheless revealing: Kleyn found himself in front of the camera from the very beginning, already curious and willing to try out the new medium.

Photography may have crossed his path from the outset, but Kleyn also followed the traditional studies that every painter in Rome was expected to pursu. In the summer of 1854 Kleyn travelled to Florence, where he produced several oil sketches after paintings in the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. Since official permission was required, an application was submitted in his name, though not in his own hand. The document was signed by an “L. Metzger,” which suggests he was admitted through an introduction.² This may have been the Florentine art dealer Lodovico Metzger (1821-1862), son of the German engraver and dealer Johann Metzger who had long been settled in the city.³ Whatever the case, the application was successful: Kleyn gained access to both museums and studied Rubens, Tiziano and other masters directly.⁴

These months of study were only one part of his Roman life. Just as important was the way Kleyn found his place within the city’s artistic community. His letters and diaries give the impression that Kleyn was a sociable character who moved with ease among different circles. He joined the Deutsche Künstlerverein, the club for German-speaking artists, and through French acquaintances at the Villa Medici he was able to obtain models.⁵ Surviving correspondence also shows that he mastered Italian well and kept informed about current affairs.⁶ Among his close friends was the Italian painter Luigi Gregori (1819-1896), who during the 1850s and 1860s worked as a restorer and collection specialist for the Vatican’s Renaissance paintings, while also assisting members of the Papal Court with their private collections of early Renaissance art.⁷ Through such connections Kleyn gained useful contacts and a solid reputation, which soon translated into commissions. His first was a portrait of the Duke of Alcantera. The result was well received and followed by a commission from the Contessa de Pourtalès to paint a portrait of Pope Pius IX. This likeness too was praised, and by the early 1860s Kleyn had secured the patronage of Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, a link that would shape the next stage of his career.⁸

Photographs taken in his Roman studio provide a visual echo of this moment in his career, capturing the spaces where these commissions were made. Attributed to Giorgio Sommer (1834-1914) and Edmondo Behles (1841-1924), these images show Kleyn’s studio from different angles. One photograph [4] depicts a large studio with a high ceiling in which Kleyn stands at the left, posing with a model; a second man is also present, possibly Stöver or Philippeau. Another shot [5] leaves out the people but reveals the walls lined with paintings of Italiennes, a popular genre among foreign buyers.⁹ A third photograph [6] of the studio makes it possible to roughly date these photographs – assuming that the four of them were taken at the same time. The Portrait of Princess Marianne appears on one of the negatives. Kleyn completed this commission for the princess in 1863.¹⁰ There is also a study for his painting Hagar Grieving in the Wilderness beside the Dying Ishmael [7]. This work is dated to 1862 and was likewise commissioned by the princess. The photographs thus served a double purpose. They documented the works in Kleyn’s studio, but they also functioned as a form of promotion, showing his paintings, his working space, and the commissions he had secured. In doing so they illustrate how photography and painting could complement one another in Rome at the time.

3
Anonymous dated 1851
Portrait of Johan Hendrik Stöver (1825-1911), Carel Frans Philippeau (1825-1897) and Laurens Lodewijk Kleyn (1826-1909), dated 1851
The Hague, RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History

4
Sommer & Behles (attributed to), Studio of the Artist Laurens Lodewijk Kleyn, ca. 1860-1862,
glass negative, 80 x 165 mm,
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-D-OO-1131-196

5
Sommer & Behles (attributed to),
Studio of the Artist Laurens Lodewijk Kleyn, ca. 1860-1862,
glass negative, 80 x 165 mm,
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-D-OO-1131-198