Old woman with a rosary praying

Cornelis Bloemaert II (1603–1692), was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver. Born in Utrecht, though he originally trained as a painter under Gerard van Honthorst, Bloemaert went on to devote himself primarily to printmaking, which he learned from Crispijn van de Passe (1589-1637), the founder of the Van de Passe family dynasty of engravers. He went to Paris in 1630, where he lived and worked before moving to Rome three years later.

The early Dutch art biographer Arnold Houbraken noted that Bloemaert made reproductive prints of many Italian paintings; these included the complete engravings of Pietro da Cortona frescoes in the Palazzo Pitti (1664-1677). Earlier, in 1659 and again in 1667, Bloemaert made reproduction engravings for Daniello Bartoli's Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu, 10,000-page epic which outlines the history of the Jesuits in Italy between 1540 and 1640, and a classic of Italian literature. Bloemaert was so successful that he stayed in Rome until receiving word that his father, the equally celebrated painter and printmaker Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651), wished to see him once more before he died. Sadly, Cornelis delayed his return too long and remained in Rome until his own death. He was a member of the Bentvueghels, a Dutch and Flemish artists' colony, with the nickname ‘Winter’.

This engraving is based on a lost painting by Abrahm Bloemaert and dates from 1625-30. Stylistically this is 'warts and all' Dutch realism. The elderly woman is entirely absorbed in prayer, holding her Catholic rosary. Her hands are huge and coarse - this is not a flattering or sentimental depiction: in the language of the time, she might have been described as a crone. The Dutch inscription only confirms this. It translates as 'What the toy hoop is to the child, the hunting spear to the youth, the sword to the mature man, such is the weapon of piety to old age'.

Sources:

Walter A. Liedtke, Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2007), vol. 2, p. 850.

Wikipedia, 'Cornelis Bloemaert', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelis_Bloemaert

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   May 2019