HENDRIK VAN CLEVE III | THE BUILDING OF THE TOWER OF BABEL (GENESIS 11: 3-5)

Anonymous sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 21 June 1974, lot 29;

May collection, Paris;

With Salomon Lilian, 2005;

Private collection, Sweden.

"The Tower of Babel was such a popular subject among painters from Antwerp in the 16th century that it almost became a separate school of painting. The subject is still compelling to us today for the same reasons: it combines landscape, architecture, many figures in exotic costumes, and a moralizing lesson on pride that also serves as an origin myth for different cultures and languages."



Molly Harrington

The story of the building of the Tower of Babel comes from the Old Testament (Genesis, Chapter 11) and recounts how the people, who all spoke a common language, decided to build a tower, the top of which would reach to the heavens. As punishment for their hubris, God confused the people’s language so they could no longer understand one another and scattered them over the face of the earth. This story provided a rich source of subject matter for Flemish artists in the 16th and 17th centuries whose representations were largely inspired by the two iconic examples painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the middle of the 16th century—one dated 1563 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna¹ and another of circa 1568 in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.² 

One sixteenth century artist who took to this theme regularly was Hendrick van Cleve III. He showed a marked interest in the architectural forms, sharp angles and vast and varied landscape that the subject visually allowed. Born in 1525 in Antwerp into a family of artists, he trained in the studio of his father Willem van Cleve, then in that of the painter Frans Floris. As a young artist, he traveled through Italy where he developed a strong foundation, drawing landscapes, city views, and ancient ruins. Upon his return from Italy in 1551, he entered Antwerp's guild of Saint Luke, and throughout his career, he collaborated with numerous artists, including his brother Marten (1527-1581), Ambrosius Francken (1544-1618) and even his master Frans Floris (1516-1570). Many of Hendrick's drawings of landscapes and imaginary views were engraved and published by Philippe Galle, including a series of thirty-eight views published in Antwerp in 1587 and entitled Henrici a Cleve ruinarum varii prospectus ruriumque aliquot delineationes.  

A comparable highly detailed view of the same subject by Van Cleve is in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo.³ That example also includes King Nimrod in the foreground, as he oversees the building at hand.  

1. https://www.khm.at/objektdb/detail/323/?offset=34&lv=list

2. https://www.boijmans.nl/en/collection/artworks/3723/the-tower-of-babel

3. https://krollermuller.nl/en/hendrick-van-cleef-the-building-of-the-tower-of-babel