Supplementary Files
Keywords
Caravaggism
Antwerp
Art market
17th century
Barroc
How to Cite
Abstract
In the Southern Netherlands, the popularity of the Caravaggesque style peaked between 1620 and 1630. Previous studies stated that, after 1630, Theodoor Rombouts (1597-1637) distanced himself from his earlier Caravaggesque influences significantly and adopted Rubens’ style in order to gain the favour of the Antwerp elite. However, after studying three of Rombouts paintings from 1634, Drinking Scene with Bacchus from the former Luigi Koelliker collection, The Backgammon Players at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh and The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine at the St. James Church in Antwerp, it can be argued that this assumption is not entirely correct and that Rombouts use of a particular style, or fusion thereof, was subject to genre and targeted clientele, in which he was guided by financial and publicity gains. Since he produced paintings in both styles simultaneously, Rombouts’ approach can be described as eclectic: a conscious assemblage of the main artistic trends of Caravaggism and popular hallmarks of the ‘Rubens school’. As one cannot speak of a clear linear stylistic development, the chronology of many of his undated paintings may have to be revised.
References
Bikker, Papi en Spinoza 2005 : J. Bikker, G. Papi, en N. Spinosa, French Dutch and Flemish Caravaggesque paintings: Collezione Koelliker, (Milaan: Robilant + Voena, 2005).
Braet 2007 : C. Braet, “Is er nog leven naast Rubens? Vlaamse kunstenaars in het spoor van Caravaggio”, Vlaanderen, 56, (2007), pp. 210-214.
Brussel 2018 : Theodoor van Loon (ca. 1582-1649): Een caravaggist tussen Rome en Brussel, S. Van Sprang red. (Brussel: Bozar, Luxemburg: Musée National d'histoire et d'art, 2018).
Budapest 2019 : Rubens, Van Dyck and the Splendour of Flemish Painting, J. Tátrai en Á. Varga reds., (Budapest: Museum of Fine Arts, 2019).
Cavazzini 2008: P. Cavazzini, Painting as business in early seventeenth-century Rome, (Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008).
Gent 2023 : Theodoor Rombouts. Virtuoso of Flemish Caravaggism, F. Van Dam red., (Gent: Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 2023).
Jorissen 1989: I. Jorissen, Theodoor Rombouts: Catalogue Raisonné, doctoraatsthesis in de kunstgeschiedenis, (Utrecht: Universiteit, 1989).
Manuth en Helmus 2014 : V. Manuth en L. M. Helmus red., Utrecht and the international caravaggesque movement, (Parijs: Paris Tableau, 2014).
Nicolson 1979 : B. Nicolson, The international Caravaggesque movement. Lists of Pictures by Caravaggio and his Followers throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650, (Oxford: Phaidon, 1979).
Pérez Preciado 2005 : J. J. Pérez Preciado, “Aarschot and Solre. The Collections, Patronage and Influence in Spain of two Flemish Nobleman”, in: Sponsors of the Past. Flemish Art and Patronage 1550-1700, H. Vlieghe en K. Van der Stighelen, reds., (Turnhout: Brepolis, 2005), pp. 17-36.
Raleigh, Mikwaukee en Dayton 1998 : Sinners and Saints, Darkness and Light. Caravaggio and his Dutch and Flemish Followers, D. P. Weller red., (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Museum, Dayton: The Dayton Art Institute, 1998).
Roggen 1935 : D. Roggen, “De chronologie der werken van Theodoor Rombouts”, Gentse bijdragen tot de Kunstgeschiedenis, 2, (1935), pp. 175-190.
Roggen, Pauwels en De Schrijver 1949-1950 : D. Roggen, H. Pauwels en A. De Schrijver, “Th. Rombouts (1597-1637)”, Gentse bijdragen tot de kunstgeschiedenis, 12, (1949-1950), pp. 225-227.
Rombouts en Van Lerius 1872 : Ph. Rombouts en Th. Van Lerius, De Liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpse Sint Lucasgilde van 1453-1615, 1, (Antwerpen, 1872).
Sandrart 1675 : J. von Sandrart, Teutsche Academie der Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey-Künste, 2, (Neurenberg, 1675) (Geannoteerde online editie 2008:2012; http://ta.sandrart.net/en/; T. Kirchner, A. Nova, C. Blüm e.a. red.).
Schaudies 2007 : I. Schaudies, “Trimming Rubens' Shadow: New Light on the Mediation of Caravaggio in the Southern Netherlands”, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, nr. Rubens en de Nederlanden, 55 (2004), pp. 334-367.
Schneider 1967 : A. von Schneider, Caravaggio und die Niederländer, (Amsterdam: Israel, 1967), 2e druk.
Spicer 1985-1986 : J. Spicer, “Unrecognized Studies for Van Dyck's "Iconography" in the Hermitage”, Master Drawings, nr. 4, 23/24, (1985-1986), pp. 537-544, pp. 590-594.
Utrecht en München 2018 : Utrecht, Caravaggio and Europe, B. Ebert en L. M. Helmus reds., (Utrecht: Centraal Museum, München: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Alte Pinakothek, 2018).
Valenciennes 2011 : Gérard Seghers, 1591-1651: un peintre flamand entre maniérisme et caravagisme, A. Delvingt red., (Valenciennes: Musée des Beaux-Arts, 2011).
Van der Sman 2019 : G. J. Van der Sman, “The World of the Antwerp Caravaggisti: Artists’ Careers in an International Perspective”, in: Rubens, Van Dyck and the Splendour of Flemish Painting, J. Tátrai en Á. Varga reds., (Budapest: Museum of Fine Arts, 2019), pp. 38-55.
Van Laarhoven 1992 : J. van Laarhoven, De beeldtaal van de Christelijke kunst: geschiedenis van de iconografie, (Nijmegen: SUN, 1992).
Vlieghe 1989 : H. Vlieghe, “Theodoor Rombouts en zijn gezin geportretteerd”, Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, 8, (1989), pp. 145-157.
Vlieghe 1996 : H. Vlieghe, “Rombouts, Theodoor”, in: The Dictionary of Art, J. Turner red., 26, (New York: Grove, Londen: Macmillan, 1996), pp. 747-748.
Vlieghe 1996 : H. Vlieghe, “Rubens, Peter Paul,” in: Dictionary of art, J. Turner red., 27, (New York: Grove, Londen: Macmillan, 1996), pp. 295-296.
Vlieghe 1998 : H. Vlieghe, Flemish Art and Architecture 1585-1700, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2023 Epiarte S.L.