M HKA Ensembles

Painting, 121 x 103 x 1.5 cm, 144.5 x 126 x 8.5 cm.

Collection: Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerpen.

Abraham de Graef (c. 1545/50–1624) or Grapheus, as he was also called, became a member of the Antwerp St. Lucas Guild in 1572. Initially he wanted to become an artist himself, but apparently that wish did not come true, because we do not know any paintings by his hand. However, payments show that he was active as a letter painter and gilder. From the middle of the 1580s, Grapheus is known to have worked as a concierge and accountant, as clerk, cashier and messenger. He also organized the auctions of goods after the death of guild members and directed theatre performances.

Grapheus was very popular with his fellow guildsmen. Frans Pourbus de Oude portrayed him in his twenties (The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). Maerten de Vos portrayed him in 1602 as a colour grinder , on the left in the background on the altarpiece with Saint Luke the Virgin (Antwerp, KMSKA) and Jacques Jordaens used him several times as a model when painting tronies (mugs) (see cat. no. X). When Grapheus' son injures guests with a knife in tavern 'De Drij Reepkens' in the Korte Gasthuisstraat in 1616-17, his fellow guildsmen put money together to compensate the victims. In 1620, De Vos portrayed him in the painting shown here as Dean of the guild, in full regalia, the upper body covered with ‘breuken’, a chain with silver plates. The exhibited guild silver will be confiscated by French revolutionaries in 1794.

Text: Nico Van Hout, 2018