Jan Claudius de CockAlternative name spellings and versions: Jan Gelauden de Cock, Jan Claudius de Cocq, Jan Claudius de Cocx, Jan Claudius de Kock, Gelaude de Cock, Joannes-Geloude de Kock (baptized 2 June 1667 in Brussels – 1735 in Antwerp)Jan Claudius de Cock at the Netherlands Institute for Art History was a Flemish painter, sculptor, print artist and writer. De Cock produced both religious and secular sculpture on a small as well as monumental scale. De Cock completed many commissions in the Dutch Republic. He worked on decorations for the courtyard of the Breda Palace for William III, King of England, Ireland, and Scotland and stadtholder. He is credited with introducing neoclassicism in Flemish sculpture.Cynthia Lawrence. "Cock, Jan Claudius de." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 9 May 2021. He was a prolific draughtsman and designed prints for the Antwerp publishers. As a writer, he wrote a poem about the 1718 fire in the Jesuit Church in Antwerp and a book of instructions on the art of sculpture.W. Nys, Joannes Claudius de Cock als ontwerper van boekillustraties: een overzicht, De Gulden Passer 73 (1995), p. 155–186
Life De Cock was the son of Claudius de Cock and Magdalena van Havré.Dennis de Kool, Jan Claudius de Cock (1667-1735) en zijn tekeningen van tuinbeelden, in: Cascade: bulletin voor tuinhistorie, Jrg. 23. no. 2 (2014), pp. 13-36 His father was an Antwerp sculptor who had been registered at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as a pupil of Pieter Verbrugghen the Elder in the guild year 1660–1661. No known sculptures by him are known. Jan Claudius followed in his father's footsteps and was registered in the guild year 1682–1683 at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as a pupil of his father's master, Pieter Verbrugghen the Elder.Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius (eds.), De liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpsche sint Lucasgilde Volume 2, Antwerp, 1864, pp. 318, 493, 495, 531, 537, 606, 607, 626, 632, 678, 685, 689, 691, 713, 727, 742, 744, 866 Verbrugghen operated one of the foremost sculpture workshops of Antwerp, which supplied local churches and international clients with a variety of statuary, church furniture and architectural decorations.Pieter Verbruggen at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
Jan Claudius was admitted as a master of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in the guild year 1688–1689.Dennis de Kool, De verloren strijd van Mars. De beeldhouwkunst van Jan Claudius de Cock en Jan Baptist Xavery in Breda, Jaarboek 'de Oranjeboom' 70 (2017), pp. 161-173 He did not immediately establish his own workshop but continued to work for some time in the workshop of Pieter Verbrugghen the Younger (c. 1640–1691), son of his master Pieter the Elder and brother of Hendrik Frans Verbruggen (1654–1724). Only after the death of Pieter Verbrugghen the Younger in 1691 did he establish himself as an independent sculptor.
From 1692 onwards, he worked on a commission by William III of England to execute decorative sculptures for the interior and exterior of the King's castle in Breda called the Prinsenhof (now Breda Castle). This renovation project of the castle was designed by Dutch architect Jacob (Jacobus) Roman and executed under the direction of Johannes de Wijs. De Cock, accompanied by his brother-in-law Melchior Serlippens and 7 or 8 young assistants, worked on his commission from the beginning of 1693 until 1697. He made mainly sculptures, including a statue of Mars, which stood on the tympanum of the monumental staircase against the west wing.C. J. A. C. Peeters, Beeldhouwwerk van het Kasteel van Breda, Jaarboek De Oranjeboom 17 (1964), pp. 50-60 He decorated an interior staircase with foliage and animal figures, created two fireplaces, a mirror frame and a statue of Mars. In addition, stone and wooden sculptures by his hand were placed in various apartments. During his activities in Breda, he was given temporary residence and working space at the local government's location. There he also gave lessons in drawing. He carved the 'William and Mary' ceiling and made a series of busts of the Princes of Orange, including of Prince Philip William and Prince Maurice.Jeroen Grosveld, 'De Oorlog' van Jan Claudius de Cock' As far as is known, nothing has been preserved of de Cock's sculptures at Breda Castle.
On 13 January 1693, he married Maria Clara Serlippens, the daughter of a merchant. In 1694 the couple's first child was born in Breda, followed by a second in 1696. More children were born of whom 3 died in childhood. De Cock was reportedly small in stature.Fernand Donnet, Un oeuvre intime du sculpteur J.C. de Cock, in: Annales de l’Académie Royale d’Archéologie de Belgique, 65 (1913) pp. 249-254 In his sketch regarding de Cock included in his biographies on Dutch and Flemish artists, the serial vilifier Jacob Campo Weyerman went so far as to compare him to a dwarf. Weyermans also alleges without evidence that the de Cocks had a troubled marriage. Nevertheless, at their 25th wedding anniversary de Cock published a eulogy to marriage.
By around 1697, Jan Claudius de Cock had moved back to Antwerp, where he resided for the rest of his life. He operated a large workshop where he employed many assistants and trained 16 pupils in sculpture and drawing.His pupils included: Jan Frans Meskens, Jan Karel van Bueghen and Michiel Hennekin in 1697; Frans Goubau in 1700; Daniel Govaerts in 1701; Guillielmus van Boeck in 1711; Jan Baptist Buys in 1712; Jacobus de Wolf in 1713; Joannes van Hoostenryck in 1714; Francis van Paesschen and Jan Peter de la Porte in 1718; Lowis Bertolis de Laen, Pieter van den Bosch, Christiaen van der Wee and Mertinus Joseph le Gandermes in 1721; Martinus Lauwers in 1725 The latter also studies modeling with the aim of a career as a silversmith.
He had close contacts with the Antwerp printers as shown by the bust he made of Balthasar III Moretus, the manager of the Plantin Press and the designs he made for the Plantin Press.
After a productive career, De Cock died in Antwerp in early 1735. It is likely that his estate was insolvent as his daughter soon after his death travelled to The Hague to sell, with mixed feelings, some of his marble sculptures and models.
Work
General De Cock was a prolific and versatile artist who worked on a wide range of church furniture such as altars, choir stalls, confessionals, pulpits and tombs, as well as secular items such as garden statues and vases, designs for cradles, clocks, floats, reliquaries and monuments. In addition, he also produced smaller scale sculptures and portrait busts. He was a prolific draftsman and was sought after as a teacher of drawing and sculpting. He created designs for the frontispieces and illustration of publications of the Antwerp printers. He produced a few prints of his own. While he was described by Weyermans as a painter, no known paintings by his hand are known. He wrote poems on occasional subjects as well as a manual of sculpture in rhyme.
Sculpture De Cock worked in many materials including marble, stone, bronze, wood and terracotta. His style shows the influence of the late Baroque works produced by the workshop of his master Verbrugghen. He also admired sculpture from the Antique and the work of his compatriots François Duquesnoy and Artus Quellinus the Elder.Wim Nys, Tekenen en boetseren om zilversmid te worden, 2009 This is reflected in the tendency towards Classicism in his work. He is known for his allegorical representations of children. An example are a pair of terracotta figures representing Air and Fire. The Africa boy stands for the element Fire because of the association of black people with the heat of the African sun.Black is beautiful: from Rubens to Dumas Exhibition: 26 July - 26 October 2008 at Codart The statues may also be allegorical representations of the continents Europe and Africa. They were likely created as workshop models for larger stone and marble compositions. These terracotta models appealed as individual works of art and were collected by contemporary collectors.Jan Claudius de Cock, Pair of Figures Representing Air and Fire at Sotheby's Among his allegorical representations of children are a few busts and statues of African boys, such as the African boy with a crown in the form of a fortress (1704, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam), the marble Bust of a black boy (1705–10, Victoria and Albert Museum) and the bronze Bust of an African Boy (Walters Museum). There have also been a number of similar busts attributed to de Cock sold on the art market. These busts may have been based on a particular individual but were also intended to represent a general type of the AfricanJan Claudius de Cock, Bust of an African Boy at the Walters Museum The African boys typically wear on their chest a medallion, showing a portrait or a symbol. These were likely connected with the particular preference of the patron for whom the sculpture was produced. For instance, the medallion on the bust in the Victoria and Albert Museum represents a cardinal's hat. This suggests that the boy represented a cleric's page and that the bust was likely commissioned by a cardinal.Attributed to Jan Claudius de Cock (1667-1735), Flemish, circa 1700, Bust of a Cardinal's page at Sotheby's
De Cock also made a set of four sculpture groups representing the four continents (Princeton University Art Museum). The set once were in the collection of the American statesman Elias Boudinot IV (1740–1821). The continents are personified by women shown with bear attributes characterizing each continent and its peoples. Europe features a domed temple, papal crown, books, arms and armor, grains, flowers and a horse. These symbolized Europe's religious, cultural and military achievements and its abundant resources, which in the European ideology of that time was deemed to reflect the Christian God's favor.Jan Claudius de Cock, Europe at the Princeton University Art Museum Another allegorical group is the Allegory of War and Peace (Stedelijk Museum Breda), a terracotta sculpture, which was possibly created at the time of the peace talks in the War of the Spanish Succession held in 1710 in Geertruidenberg.Bellum / Oorlog en Vrede at Brabants Erfgoed An example of the work he did for the Princes of Orange in the Dutch Republic are the bas reliefs with the mythological scenes of Alpheius and Arethusa and Apollo en Daphne, both signed and dated 1707. They are located in the house at the Korte Vijverberg 3, The Hague, where the Dutch cabinet holds its meetings. These companion pieces depict scenes of mythological lovers taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses.Iris Kockelbergh. "Verbrugghen." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 14 May 2021.
Many of de Cock's commissions were for church furniture and decoration as well as tomb monuments. He made in 1713 Caryatids for the choir stalls of the former priory of Corsendonk in Oud-Turnhout, today partially displayed in the collegiate St. Peter's Church in Turnhout. They are the most striking example of the classicist streak in de Cock's work. He was able to incorporate his medallions and caryatids into the back panel in a soberly harmonious manner, so that the balance between architecture and sculpture was restored. Some of the elegant figures in the choir stall are executed in the late Baroque style, others in a restrained classical manner.Helena Bussers, De baroksculptuur en het barok at Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen