Titelpagina voor: Bruyloftszangen op het Huwelyk van den heer Mr. Balthasar Repelaer en Mejufvrouwe Sophia Bout, Amsterdam, 1713

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

This elegant etching by Pieter van den Berge served as the title page for a 1713 booklet of wedding songs composed to celebrate the marriage of Balthasar Repelaer and Sophia Bout in Amsterdam. Created in the medium of etching, the print exemplifies the refined Dutch tradition of commemorative ephemera produced for notable civic and family events. Van den Berge, active in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, specialized in such finely detailed illustrations for books and pamphlets, employing the etching technique to achieve delicate lines and subtle tonal effects suited to ornamental designs. The work captures a moment of personal and social significance in early eighteenth-century Amsterdam, where printed poetry and music often marked important unions among the merchant and regent classes. Though modest in scale—measuring just 250 by 167 millimeters—this title page would have introduced verses praising the couple’s virtues, blending literary custom with visual artistry. The presence of a collector’s stamp (Lugt 2228) on the reverse further attests to its later appreciation by print connoisseurs. As a surviving example of occasional printmaking, the etching offers insight into both the technical skill of Dutch etchers and the cultural value placed on marriage celebrations during this period. Its graceful design likely incorporated allegorical motifs common to the era, underscoring themes of harmony and prosperity.

About the Artist

Pieter van den Berge · 1669–1769

Pieter van den Berge (1659–1737) was a Dutch draughtsman, printmaker, and publisher whose long career spanned the late Dutch Golden Age into the early 18th century. Born in 1659, likely in Amsterdam, van den Berge worked as an engraver, visual artist, editorial curator, and draughtsman during a period when Dutch printmaking was transitioning from the heights of the Golden Age into new commercial a...