Objects, not mythology

Nine starting points in museum collections. Open the museum record to see the work. Images are not copied here; each institution supplies its own access and reproduction terms.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam / SK-A-4672

The Induction of a New Member into the Band of Northern Painters in Rome

Anonymous (Low Countries) · c. 1660 · oil on canvas

Artists in cloaks; initiate presented to laurel-crowned figure; Bacchus painting on wall.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Public domain (Rijksmuseum). Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

Museo di Roma, Rome / MR 26031

Artisti fiamminghi e olandesi in un'osteria romana (Flemish and Dutch artists in a Roman tavern / Bentvueghels induction celebration)

Roeland van Laer · c. 1626–1628 · oil on canvas

Only securely attributed painting by Roeland; burlesque Bent induction in tavern (Kren 1980).

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Museum page; reproduction rights via Museo di Roma. Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam / BdH 24555 (PK)

Initiation Rituals of the Bentvueghels in Rome

Matthijs Pool after Domenicus van Wijnen · c. 1690–1730 · engraving

Print of Bent initiation ritual after van Wijnen.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Boijmans collection page. Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam / BdH 24554 (PK)

The Bentvueghels in Rome

Matthijs Pool after Domenicus van Wijnen · c. 1690–1730 · engraving

Companion Pool plate of Bent gathering.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Boijmans collection page. Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam / MB 292 (PK)

Portraits of Five Bentvueghels (incl. Poelenburch as Satir)

Anonymous · c. 1623 · red and black chalk, brown ink annotations

Part of series MB 289–293 (26 members total); names + bentnamen. Shown Bentvueghels 2023.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Boijmans. Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam / MB 293 (PK)

Portraits of Eleven Bentvueghels

Anonymous · c. 1623 · red and black chalk, brown ink, graphite

Largest sheet in Boijmans five-sheet founding series.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Boijmans. Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam / MB 290 (PK)

Portraits of Four Bentvueghels (incl. den Berbier alias Biervliech = Baburen)

Anonymous · c. 1623 · black chalk, brown ink annotations

Includes Dirck van Baburen as Biervliech.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Boijmans. Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

The Leiden Collection, New York / PvL-100

Self-Portrait with Magic Scene

Pieter van Laer (signed P.V. Laer; attribution debate vs Roeland noted in Gerson Digital) · c. 1635–37 · oil on canvas

Magician self-portrait with devil claws; Bent tavern drawing cited as fig. 2; shown Utrecht Bent 2023.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Leiden Collection catalogue (free online essay + Visual Spectrum). Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.

Musei Vaticani, Museo Pio Clementino, Sala a Croce Greca / MV.237.0.0

Monumental sarcophagus of Costanza (Constantina) — the Bent’s ‘Tomb of Bacchus’

Roman workshop · c. 340 CE · red porphyry

Grape-harvest erotes / peacocks; removed from Santa Costanza; to Vatican 1790. Bent members mistook it for Bacchus’s tomb.

Open museum record

Supplied catalog note: Vatican Museums catalog. Confirm current terms at the institution before reuse.