Bentvueghels

Activities

Members included painters, sculptors, printmakers, goldsmiths, poets, and at least one apothecary, living mostly in the northern parishes of Santa Maria del Popolo and San Lorenzo in Lucina. Although predominantly Flemish and Dutch, a few others such as Joachim von Sandrart and Valentin de Boulogne were admitted. The group was known for drunken, Bacchic initiation rituals paid for by the initiate, during which the new member received a nickname or bentnaam, often a classical god or hero like Bacchus or Orpheus, sometimes witty or mildly obscene.

The ceremony also granted a bent letter of admission. Celebrations could last up to 24 hours and concluded with a march to the church of Santa Costanza, then called the Temple of Bacchus, where libations were made before the porphyry sarcophagus of Constantina, considered Bacchus's tomb due to its Bacchic motifs. A member list remains in one of the church's side chapels. Pope Clement XI banned this practice in 1720.

Despite the rowdiness, intellectual quality was maintained; Joachim von Sandrart wrote that his baptism included reasoned discourses in various languages, and Cornelis de Bruijn described the rituals and made engravings published in 1698, also noting that members mostly perceived Raphael as their founder.

The Bentvueghels and the Accademia di San Luca

The Bentvueghels were frequently at odds with Rome's Accademia di San Luca, which aimed to elevate artists above craftsmen. Art historians have often emphasized the Bentvueghels' low-brow activities over their intellectual pursuits, but David Levine suggests that academic art-pedagogy, with its repetitive copying, might have seemed a low mechanical process to them compared to their humanistic approach. Artists like Pieter van Laer belonged to both organisations, indicating the relationship was not always antagonistic.

Travel to Italy had become a rite of passage for young Dutch and Flemish artists after Karel van Mander's Schilder-boeck in 1604, often involving a difficult journey where artists used their talents to pay their way. Many never reached Italy or attempted the return trip, and upon arrival they were often fairly established, making membership in the Accademia feel of little importance.

Known members

The earliest-known publication listing members is Arnold Houbraken's 1718 book De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, which used the Bentvueghels membership list and gave nicknames when possible. Original members were depicted in drawings around 1620, including Cornelis van Poelenburch, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Dirck van Baburen, Paulus Bor, Cornelis Schut, and Simon Ardé. Many members had known aliases or bent-names: Willem van Aelst was 'Vogelverschrikker' (Scarecrow); Simon Ardé 'Tovenaer' (Wizard); Jan Asselijn 'Crabbetje' (Little crab) due to a hand handicap; Dirck van Baburen 'Biervlieg' (Beer fly); Jan van Bijlert 'Aeneas' (a founder); Cornelis Bloemaert 'Winter'; Jan Frans van Bloemen 'Orizonte'; Pieter van Bloemen 'Standaart' or 'Stendardo'; Paulus Bor 'Orlando'; Valentin de Boulogne 'Innamorato'; Bartholomeus Breenbergh 'Het Fret' (the Ferret); Abraham Brueghel 'Rijngraaf' or 'Ringraaf'; Jan Baptist Brueghel 'Meleager'; Cornelis de Bruijn 'Adonis'; Wouter Crabeth II 'Almanack'; Karel Dujardin 'Barba di Becco' or 'Bokkebaart'; Wybrand de Geest 'De Friesche Adelaar'; Abraham Genoels 'Archimedes'; Pieter van Laer 'Il Bamboccio'; and Hendrik Frans van Lint 'Studie', among others.