Flemish 17th-c Sculpture Nicolaes Van Der Veken (1637–1704) Virgin & Child

Nicolaes van der Veken (Malines 1637 – 1704 Malines)

The Virgin and Child

Boxwood, height 20.5 cm; height including base 22.5 cm

Provenance: private collection, The Netherlands 

*

Nicolaes was born in Malines(Mechelen), halfway between Antwerp and Brussels, as the son of the tannerHendrick van der Veken and Anna Claes.1 He remained unmarried and was a memberof the Jesuit society “Solidaliteit de Bejaerde Jongmans”. Nicolaes wasapprenticed on 20 November 1647 to Maximiliaen Labbé, and afterwards to LucasFayd'herbe, whilst he studied painting wih Nicolaes Smeyers. He became afreemaster in the Guild of St Luke as sculptor on 1 February 1662. On 6November 1679 he was one of the cosignatories of a request to the Guild to stopthe importation of cheap paintings. He lived on Kapelstraat in Malines andworked almost excluively for churches and monasteries.

A highly comparable boxwood sculpture ofthe Virgin and Child by Van der Veken is in the collection of Museum M inLeuven.2



1.       For the artist, see J.Jansen, S. Verfaille and J. Sanyova, ‘Onderzoek en behandeling van eengepolychromeerd beeld van de H. Johanna van Frankrijk, gebeeldhouwd door Nicolaasvan der Veken (1637-1709)’, Bulletin van het Koninklijk Instituut voor hetKunstpatrimonium 29 (2001-2002), pp. 155-180 and I.Leyssens, ‘Het culturele leven te Mechelen. I. De beeldende kunsten. 2. DeMechelse beeldhouwers’, in: R. Foncke et al. (eds.), Mechelen de Heerlijke,Malines 1938-1947, pp. 403-452.
2.      Boxwood, height 19.3 cm,inv. no. 2021.5. https://www.mleuven.be/collectie/maria-met-kind-6