Very little is known about the painter and draughtsman Charles Herreyns. In 1775 he won first prize at the Academy in Antwerp; in 1805 he came fourth in the painting class. At an exhibition in Antwerp in 1813 his “St John the Baptist in the Wilderness” was shown. In 1815 Herreyns, as one of the twelve ‘primussen’ (prize winners) at the Antwerp Academy, took part in the celebration of the return of the paintings seized by the French to Antwerp. On this occasion, he was at the head of the triumphal procession, alongside Ferdinand de Braekeleer. 

 

Herreyns left behind a small body of work, comprised mostly of drawings. Several drawings for applied arts, such as the studies for candlesticks in the collection of Charles Van Herck (now kept at Museum Plantin-Moretus, inv. no. CVH 314 & 414), are known, as well as some figure studies and landscapes. There are also a few drawings of silversmith’s work and sculptures; the present work is a fine example of the latter. Depicting a grave monument with an Allegory of Time pointing towards an open book, this signed and dated drawing is an important addition to the oeuvre of Charles Herreyns.