Abraham Blooteling

Abraham Blooteling (or Bloteling) (1634–1690)[1] was a Dutch designer and engraver.

Catherine of Braganza, mezzotint, 1672, after Peter Lely.

Life

He was born at Amsterdam. From the style of his etchings it is likely that he was a pupil of the Visschers. Following the French incursions into the Netherlands in 1672, he went to England, where he met with some success, but only stayed for two or three years.[2]

Blooteling produced a large number of etchings, some line engravings,[2] and also worked in mezzotint, a technique he is known to have adopted by 1671. He has sometimes been credited with the invention of the "rocker" as a tool for the preparation of mezzotint plates, and with introducing the technique into England.[3]

In 1685 he published the collection of gems of Leonardo Agostini, etched by himself. He sometimes signed his plates with his name at length, and sometimes with a monogram, composed of the letters 'A' and 'B'. Bloteling was a bachelor and a friend of Gerard de Lairesse, who also lived on Prinsengracht.[2]

Etchings and engravings
Abraham Blooteling after Ludolf de Jongh, Admiral Aert van Nes,[4] late 1600s, engraving, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library,[5] Washington, DC.

Portraits

Various subjects after his own designs and other masters
Two 48-pounders cast at Lübeck by Albert Benningk for the States-General of the Netherlands in 1669; engraving from 1671.
  • Twelve Views of Gardens; inscribed Alcune Vedute, etc.
  • Eighteen circular plates of subjects of sacred history, with flowers; A. Bloteling fec.
  • A Landscape, with Diana bathing; J. van Neck pinx.; A. Bloteling exc.
  • A Landscape, with Alpheus and Arethusa; the same.
  • Six Views of the Environs of Amsterdam; Jac. Ruisdael inv.; A. Bloteling fee. 1670.
  • Actaeon devoured by his Dogs; G. Flink pinx.
  • A Shepherd playing on his Pipe, with a Shepherdess; after the same.
  • The Golden Age; G. Lairesse pinx.; N. Visscher exc.
  • The Marriage of St. Catharine; after Raphael.
  • Two Heads of Children; after Rubens; rare; some impressions have the name of Rubens.
  • The Study of the Head of a Man; after Rubens; A. Bloteling fec. et exc; rare.
  • Four Studies of Lions; after Rubens; inscribed Varice Leonum Icones, a P. P.
  • Two Huntings of the Boar and Stag; fine.

Mezzotints

Portraits
Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, mezzotint.
Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz. Mezzotint, ca. 1690

Various subjects from his own designs and other masters
  • The Five Senses; after C. Bega.
  • The Four Ages; circular; after the same.
  • Hercules destroying the monster; G. Lairesse pinx.
  • St. Peter penitent; after P. Moreels.
  • A Landscape, with mythological figures; F. de Neve pinx.
  • The Temptation of St. Anthony; Cam. Procaccini pinx.
  • A Man holding a glass; Rostrate pinx.
  • Bust of a Man; circular.
  • Bust of a young Man crowned with laurels; circular.
  • Bust of Hippolyta; oval.
  • Two Heads, with Phrygian and Grecian Head-dresses; one plate.
  • The Satyr, and a Peasant; oval.
  • Vanitas, a Child blowing bubbles.
  • Abundance, a figure sitting.
  • The head of a Vestal, crowned with roses.
  • Small bust of Jupiter; circular.
  • Small bust of Venus; same.
  • Half length of a Boy holding a Cat.
  • Cupid and Psyche.
  • A Blind Man playing on the Flute.
  • Andromeda.

References
  1. Amsterdam city archive
  2. Bryan 1886
  3. Hind, Arthur M. (1963). A History of Engraving & Etching from the 15th Century to the Year 1914 (3rd, fully rev. ed.). New York: Dover. p. 265. OCLC 1035610203 – via the Internet Archive.
  4. https://library.nga.gov/permalink/01NGA_INST/1p5jkvq/alma991621043804896
  5. "Image Collections". www.nga.gov.

Sources
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Blooteling, Abraham". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.

Further reading

Media related to Abraham Blooteling at Wikimedia Commons

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