Nicolaes Millich
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Nicolaes Millich | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Minerva by Millich in Drottningholm Palace hall | |
| Born | 1629, Antwerp |
| Died | c. 1699, Stockholm |
| Known for | Sculpture and architecture |
| Notable work | Sculptures of the staircase and hall of Drottningholm Palace |
| Patron(s) | Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp |
Nicolaes Millich or Nicholas Millich (1629–c. 1699) was a Flemish sculptor, architect and designer of armor and ephemeral objects.[1][2] He worked for most of his career in Sweden. He was court sculptor to king Charles X Gustav of Sweden and later worked for the king's widow Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp.[1] His main creation in Sweden was the execution of the sculptural programme of the staircase and hall of Drottningholm Palace, the private residence of the Swedish royal family.[3] He also worked on various grave monuments and epitaphs of prominent Swedes.[4]
He was born in Antwerp where he was baptized on 5 June 1629.[1] His parents were the merchant Antonius Michill and Susan De Poorter.[4] He is recorded in the period 1653–54 in Brussels as a pupil of the local master Nicolaas Stercx.[1] He was registered as a master sculptor in Antwerp's Guild of Saint Luke in the guild year 1657–58.[5] He was registered in Antwerp until the guild year 1663–1664 when he is recorded as having a pupil. In the years 1664 and 1665 he is in Amsterdam where he assisted the Flemish sculptor Rombout Verhulst with the execution of sculptures in the City Hall.[1]
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He moved to Sweden in August 1669 on the recommendation of the Swedish resident in The Hague, Johann Philip Silfvercrona. He stayed in Sweden until 1676 and became a court sculptor to the King.[6] In 1673 he obtained a privilege at the marble quarry of Kolmården. The next year he was appointed the royal inspector of the marble quarries in Sweden. He was in 1676 in Tallinn working on an epitaph and other works in the St. Mary's Cathedral.[1]
He is recorded back in Antwerp on 16 June 1679 as a witness to a notarial deed.[1] In 1680 he was commissioned in Antwerp to make the design for the new tower of the St. Paul's Church in Antwerp, after the old one was destroyed in a fire.[7]
He returned to Sweden in 1683 where he stayed until 1687. During this time he was employed at the Drottningholm Palace, the private residence of the Swedish royal family.[3] He is again recorded in Stockholm in the period between 1682 and 1699. He was appointed court sculptor. After 1687 there is no mention of him in Stockholm, probably due to problems between him and Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, the court architect. It is possibly that he had then left Sweden temporarily.[1]
It is believed that he died in Stockholm in 1699.[1]
His pupils in Antwerp included Jan Baptist Smesters and Jacob Wouters.[5] The sculptor Abraham-César Lamoureux was his apprentice in Stockholm around 1670.[8]
