Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem

Allegory of Spring

Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem
Allegory of Spring

On view in Room 12

Berchem made the four seasons for an Amsterdam collector. They were inteded as overdoor pieces for his house on the Herengracht. The series became separated at the end of the nineteenth century, but is now reunited.

Each painting shows a medaillon with a chariot carrying the personification of the season. Figures and symbols connect each season with one of the four elements: spring with air, summer with fire, autumn with earth and winter with water.

Berchem is known mainly as a painter of Italianate landscapes, although he also painted decorative scenes, such as these allegories.

Technical details

More from this series

Allegory of Summer

Allegory of Autumn

Allegory of Winter

Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem
Allegory of Spring

On view in Room 12

Acquired with the support of the VriendenLoterij and the Rembrandt Association (thanks in part to her Fund for 17th-century Painting and her Fund 1931), 2018
Upcoming activities

Details

General information
Artist Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem (Haarlem 1621/1622 - 1683 Amsterdam)
Title Allegory of Spring
Object name painting
Inventory number 1220
On view in Room 12
Material and technical details
Technique oil
Material canvas
Dimensions 94.3 x 88.5 cm
Inscriptions
Signed lower right: Berchem f

Provenance

Herman van Swoll, Amsterdam, c.1670-1698; his sale, Amsterdam, 22 April 1699, no. 20 (the entire series for 570 guilders); private collection, Amsterdam; anonymous sale, Amsterdam, 13 July 1718 (Lugt 267), no. 5 (the entire series for 505 guilders); sale Amsterdam (Daniel Adrianus Beukelaar), 22 May 1731 (Lugt 409a), no. 1; Morel collection, Paris; Morel sale, Paris (Lebrun), 3 May 1786 (Lugt 4025 and 4040), no. 70 (the entire series for 7801 livres to Langlier); Jacques Langlier Gallery, Paris, 1786-1789; his sale (‘Lenglier’), Paris (Lebrun), 15 April 1789 (Lugt 4422 and 4429), no. 50 (unsold); private collection, Paris, until 1834; Marseille Middleton Holloway, London; his sale, London, 1872 (the entire series for 170 pounds to Nieuwenhuys); Charles J. Nieuwenhuys Gallery, Brussels and London, 1872-1886; his sale, London (Christie’s), 17 July 1886 (Lugt 45927), no. 55 (together with inv. no. 1091 for 49 guineas to McLean); McLean collection, London; Eugène Fischof Gallery, Paris (together with inv. no. 1091); anonymous sale, London (Christie’s), 22 June 1901, no. 2 (13 guineas); Julius David Ichenhauser, London, 1901; Victor D. Spark Gallery, New York, 1948; William Mostyn Owen, London, 1962-1965?; Hazlitt Gallery, London, 1965; David E. Rust, Washington DC, c.1981-2011; Bob Haboldt Gallery, Paris-New York-Amsterdam, 2013; Eric Alberda Jelgersma, 2013-2018 (inv. nos. 1221-1222 were part of this collection since 1990); acquired with the support of the VriendenLoterij and the Rembrandt Association (thanks in part to its Themafonds 17de-eeuwse Schilderkunst and its Fonds 1931), 2018 (together with inv. nos. 1221-1222)