# Bonaventura van Overbeek artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/bonaventura-van-overbeek/
Profile generated: 2026-05-25T14:11:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1660-09-10
- Death date: 1705-10-23
- Nationality: Dutch
- Movements: Dutch Golden Age
- Common media: engraving, drawing, painting

## About Bonaventura van Overbeek

Bonaventura van Overbeek (1660–1705) was a Dutch Golden Age draughtsman, engraver, and painter active in Amsterdam. A member of the Bentvueghels, the society of Netherlandish artists working in Rome, he adopted the bent-name "Romulus." Van Overbeek is best known for his meticulous drawings and engravings of Roman antiquities and ancient architecture. He was the son of Johannes van Overbeke and Clara van Basserode. After his death at age 45, his cousin Michiel van Overbeek published his collected engravings of Rome as Reliquiae antiquiae urbis Romae (Amsterdam, 1708), with a French edition appearing the following year. This landmark publication preserved detailed visual records of classical Roman ruins and monuments, making van Overbeek an important documentarian of ancient Rome's architectural heritage during the late 17th century.

## Common works and media

Van Overbeek's most commonly encountered works are copperplate engravings depicting Roman ruins, ancient monuments, and architectural views. These appear at auction as individual prints, suites of plates, or illustrations bound into copies of the Reliquiae antiquiae urbis Romae. Less frequently, original pen-and-ink or wash drawings of Roman subjects surface. Paintings attributed to him are rare in the auction record.

## Market and appraisal context

Bonaventura van Overbeek's work appears regularly at auction, primarily as engravings from the Reliquiae antiquiae urbis Romae series. Collectors encounter his prints as individual plates, bound sets, and loose impressions. Value depends on impression quality, plate condition, margins, and whether the work comes from the 1708 or 1709 edition. Original drawings, which are far rarer than his prints, command significantly higher prices. Attribution of drawings requires specialist expertise. Comparable Old Master prints of Roman vedute by his contemporaries provide useful auction benchmarks, but condition and provenance differences can cause wide price variation.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from authority files and museum databases with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Bonaventura van Overbeek, identity data is sourced from the RKD, Getty ULAN, VIAF, and Wikidata. Market observations are general and should not substitute for a professional appraisal.

## Sources

- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/61285
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4941208
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonaventura_van_Overbeek
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500021660
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/29873057/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr93029442