Adrien Thomaszoon Key (ca. 1544 - After 1589).
A Superb Sixteenth-Century Portrait of Famed Geographer Abraham Ortelius: The Only Portrait Painted During His Lifetime.
Oil on Panel, 17 1/8 x 18 3/4 inches framed.
Inscribed Center Right “Contemno/ Et/ Orno”
Provenance: I. Riesner Collection, Brussels; His sale, Brussels, Galerie Fievez, November 19, 1927, lot 65 (as Antonio Moro, Portrait d’un géographe); Anton W.M. Mensing Collection, Amsterdam, died 1936 and then held in trust by the estate until sold, Amsterdam, Frederick Muller & Cie., November 15, 1938, lot 68 (as Antonio Moro, Portrait of Abraham Ortelius), where acquired by J. Paul Getty; J. Paul Getty Collection, California, until 1954 when donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California; deaccessioned 2007.
This superb portrait by the Flemish painter Adriaen Thomaszoon Key represents Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), a luminary figure in the intellectual history of the Renaissance. Born Abraham Ortels in the Flemish capital of Antwerp in present-day Belgium, Ortelius (who Latinized his name in his 20s, as was then fashionable among the educated elite) eventually became one of the most celebrated geographers of all time -- equal parts innovator, entrepreneur, cartographer, and classical scholar. His foremost accomplishment was the production of the first world atlas in the modern sense of the word, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, which was first published in Antwerp in 1570. Although he created some maps personally, Ortelius was known more as a publisher than a cartographer. For the Theatrum he compiled the best existing maps, had them re-engraved by talented printmakers in his employ such that all conformed to a standard format and style, appended scholarly text to their versos, and then published them as a uniform edition. The result was an atlas that was truly without precedent.
This portrait of Ortelius by Adriaen Thomaszoon Key is the only known representation of the famous geographer done during his lifetime. Previously attributed to the painter Anthonis Mor (also known as Antonio Moro), the painting was first recognized as Key’s work by Burton B. Fredericksen in his 1965 catalogue of the J. Paul Getty Collection (see references, above). Ortelius almost certainly sat for the artist so Key could make first-hand studies “from life” that he could then work up into this final composition. Key shows Ortelius in the flawless naturalistic style for which Northern European artists were celebrated. Every hair in the geographer’s beard and rich fur cape emerges with distinct clarity. Ortelius is depicted in bust-length, his face -- in near-profile -- emerging brightly above a neat white ruff from the dark, simple background. He stares intently to the right, resting his hand gently on a terrestrial globe, where the Mediterranean can just be made out. Ortelius’s intense gaze, his prominent, furrowed brow, his sober expression and dignified bearing all contribute to an impression of surpassing intelligence. The illumination of his face against the relative obscurity of the background was probably a calculated allusion to the geographer’s learning (literal enlightenment) and to his greatest accomplishment, that of having spread knowledge of geography to a broader European public. The inscription at center right, “contemno et orno,” which in full would read “contemno et orno mente manu,” almost certainly alludes to Ortelius’s triumph in having produced the first atlas. Although its meaning is debated, the inscription was probably meant to translate as “I divide and order with mind and hand,” which is precisely the task of the geographer -- to divide and order the world and its parts through the intellect, and then transcribe that knowledge onto paper. The placement of Ortelius’s hand above the globe is likewise highly symbolic, in this case alluding to his firm grasp on (and power over) geography.