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WILLIAM VAN DER HAGEN (
FL.
1720-1745)
Capriccio with Figures and Ruins
Oil on canvas, 129 x 97 cm
Signed and dated 1737
Provenance: Private collection
€35,000 - 50,000
Capriccio paintings, usually consisting of classical ruins juxtaposed artificially in an imaginary landscape, belong to a sub-
genre of landscape painting, produced in Rome from the seventeenth century by such artists as Claude Lorraine (1600–82). In
the early eighteenth century they were to become a speciality of the artist Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691–1765). Often acquired
by those on the Grand Tour, their purpose was to provide an evocation of the remains of architectural glories of ancient Rome.
William Van der Hagen, the artist of this painting, was a member of a family of painters of Dutch origin, active in London
from the seventeenth century. He was first recorded in Dublin in September 1722, when he was employed as a scene painter by
the Smock Alley Theatre. A versatile artist, he also painted: altarpieces for St Michan’s Church, Dublin (1724) and St Patrick’s
Church, Waterford (1736); architectural capricci, including for Beaulieu House; panoramic views of the cities of Waterford and
Drogheda, as well as landscape prospects to form the background of projected tapestries for the House of Lords, one represent-
ing the Battle of the Boyne (Bank of Ireland, Dublin). In Waterford he also received several commissions for decorative paint-
ing, such as for Curraghmore, seat of the Marquess of Waterford, for whom he painted the staircase, as well as an entire room
on the ground floor with landscapes, surmounted by a fictive dome. His last work appears to have been a view of the waterfall
at Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow, which was engraved by John Brooks in 1745. Announcing the publication of the engraving,
Faulkner’s Dublin Journal described it as being after ‘
the late ingenious Mr. Vander Egan
(9–13 April 1745).
This example of one of his architectural capricci, is shown against a dramatic mountainous background complete with a river
and lake, the composition recalling the elements of a stage set. Painted with Van der Hagen characteristic precision of detail, the
scene contains architectural elements reminiscent of remains at Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, such as its large baths, seen in the ruins
of a large double-height building on the left, as well as the rectangular pool in the centre of the painting. In the background can
be seen a temple in the form of a rotunda, with composite columns. To the right stands an honorific column surmounted by an
urn, similar to one in the Forum, Rome, dedicated to Phocas (608 AD). The tombs and sacral elements, as well as the decayed
buildings with overgrowth, serve to remind the educated viewer of the transience of life and the glories of a past civilization.
Typical of Van der Hagen’s work, is that the view is enlivened by humans, animals and birds. Figures provide interest as far as
the eye can see, from the Franciscan monk astride a donkey clutching his rosary beads in the foreground, to those further away
engaged in activites at the water’s edge, to the minute figures visiting the temple in the background. Elongation of figures is also
a mannerism of the artist, seen here in the tall figure of the woman in the straw hat in the foreground. In the same group, the
bent leg of the wounded beggar on the ground, strongly resembles the pose of a boy included in a similar landscape by Van der
Hagen in a private collection.
Less than ten paintings by Van der Hagen are known and even less are signed. One in the National Gallery of Ireland is another
capriccio
, which similarly includes architectural ruins, pastoral figures, animals and well painted foliage placed against the
light. As the first professional landscape painter in Ireland, Van der Hagen’s Claudean-style topographical views were impor-
tant, in inspiring later generations of landscape painters in Ireland, in particular Joseph Tudor (c. 1695–1759) and Robert Carver
(c. 1730–91).
Further Reading:
Mia Craig, ‘The Van der Hagen Problem in the British Isles’, unpublished BA thesis (TCD, 1992); Nicola Figgis and Brendan
Rooney, Irish Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 2001, pp. 455–57; Anne Crookshank and the Knight of Glin,
Ireland’s Painters, New Haven and London, 2002, pp. 68–71.
Dr. Nicola Figgis, June 2013
