Artus Quellinus (1609 – 1668) was one of the most influential sculptors of the seventeenth century. After he returned from Rome, the Amsterdam city council commissioned Antwerp-born Quellinus to adorn the new Amsterdam Town Hall, which is now the Royal Palace. He created iconic statues such as the famous Atlas, sophisticated sculptures in the richly decorated Burgerzaal and the narrative reliefs in what can be described as ‘the Night Watch of sculpture’: the Tribunal. At the time, he proudly bore the honorary title Sculptor of Amsterdam.
Quellinus’s majestic works show his extraordinary talent in capturing movement and emotion in materials such as marble. He knew how to express the softness of the human skin or the folds of fabrics. The master of living marble gave a tremendous boost to sculpture in the Netherlands and far beyond with his work in the Amsterdam Town Hall.