Eynden, Roeland van

Roeland van Eynden (1747–1819) was a Dutch painter and art historian whose monumental documentation of Dutch artists became an essential resource for understanding Dutch artistic heritage. Born in Nijmegen in 1747, van Eynden pursued a dual career as practicing artist and pioneering art historian, recognizing the importance of systematically preserving knowledge about his nation's artistic traditions before that information disappeared. As a painter, van Eynden demonstrated competence across genres, but his enduring significance lies in his scholarly contributions. His most important achievement was "Geschiedenis der Vaderlandsche Schilderkunst" (History of Dutch Painting), an ambitious multi-volume work begun in collaboration with Adriaan van der Willigen and published from 1816–1842. Van Eynden wrote the first volume, published in 1816, establishing the framework for this comprehensive survey. The work listed over 1,500 artists and collectors, creating an invaluable biographical dictionary that has remained a fundamental research tool for scholars of Dutch art. Van Eynden was an active member of Felix Meritis, Amsterdam's prestigious society for arts and sciences. In 1781, he won a gold medal in the category "Drawing and Painting" for his essay on "The National Taste in Drawing and Painting," demonstrating his theoretical engagement with aesthetic questions and national artistic identity. His dual practice as artist and historian positioned him uniquely to understand both the creative process and the scholarly requirements for documenting artistic achievement. Though he died in Dordrecht in 1819 before the project's completion, van Eynden's foundational volume established the methodology and scope that enabled van der Willigen to continue the work through subsequent volumes (1817, 1820, and 1840 appendix), creating the most comprehensive contemporary documentation of Dutch artistic heritage.