03 February 2023
Now in The Burlington Magazine: ‘A new date for Anthony van Dyck’s free mastership’
In the February issue of The Burlington Magazine, JVDPPP co-founder Justin Davies argues that Anthony van Dyck became a free master earlier than is generally believed.
Ever since the nineteenth century, 11th February 1618 has been widely accepted as the date on which Anthony van Dyck enrolled as a free master and became a painter in his own right. However, an examination of the register of the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp, alongside the manuscript accounts book kept by the printer Jan Moretus II, who was Dean of the Guild in the guild year 1616–17, leads to the conclusion that Van Dyck became a free master four months earlier, on St Luke’s Day, 18th October 1617.
The Burlington Magazine’s February issue on Northern art and artists.
The new date is of significant importance to our knowledge of Van Dyck’s early career because it advances the date when the young artist was permitted to work on his own account from his house or rooms.
Read the article online (subscription or ordering required) or see the website of Burlington Magazine for more information about subscriptions and ordering.