Netherlandish Northern Renaissance Painter, ca.1460-1490 Geertgen tot Sint Jans is also known as Geertgen van Haarlem, Gerrit van Haarlem, or Gerrit Gerritsz.[citation needed] Alternative spellings of his first name are Gheertgen, Geerrit, and Gheerrit, where G(h)eertgen is the diminutive form of G(h)eerrit. Presumably, he was born in Leiden, then in the Burgundian Netherlands in the Holy Roman Empire, around the year 1465. The assignment of Leiden as his birth place is traceable to a 17th century print by Jacob van Matham. There is no known archival evidence for this claim by Jacob van Matham. The modern acceptance of Leiden as Geertgen's birth place is roughly traceable to Johann Kessler's dissertation of 1930. Probably, Geertgen was a pupil of Albert van Ouwater, who was one of the first oil painters in the northern Low Countries. Both painters lived in the city of Haarlem. Geertgen was attached to the monastery of the Knights of Saint John, for whom he painted an altarpiece. Although Geertgen was not a member of the Order of Saint John, his last name "tot Sint Jans" was derived from the order's name and means "unto Saint John". Geertgen died in Haarlem, then the Habsburg Netherlands in the Holy Roman Empire, around the year 1495, when he was approximately 28 years old. He was buried in the monastery of the Knights of Saint John. Modern scholars have attempted to calculate the artist's death date with the information from The Painting-Book (Middle Dutch: Het Schilder-Boeck) by Karel van Mander, published in 1604. There are some archival traces that suggest he may in fact have lived into the 16th century.  Related Paintings of Geertgen Tot Sint Jans :. | St John the Baptist in the Widerness (mk08) | Geertgen depicted the Child Jesus as a light source on his painting The Nativity at Night | johannes doparens ben brannes | Geertgen painted The Lamentation of Christ for the altarpiece of the monastery of the Knights of Saint John in Haarlem | Nativity |
Related Artists:
VROOM, Hendrick Cornelisz.
Dutch Baroque Era Painter, ca.1563-1640. He was one of the founders of Dutch marine painting. Painter and draughtsman. By his own account, he received his early training in Delft, home of his mother's family. Van Mander reports that Hendrick's stepfather, like his father a ceramic artist, forced him to work as a decorator of ceramic vessels, which caused the young artist to leave home and embark on extensive travels in Spain and Italy. After working for ecclesiastical patrons in Florence and Rome, he was employed for at least two years (c. 1585-7) by Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, who in October 1587 succeeded Francesco I as Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinando's keen interest in ships and the navy seems to have been a determining factor in Vroom's choice of subject-matter. According to Lanzi, he was known in Rome as 'Lo Spagnolo' (since he had arrived there from Spain). Among his earliest works may be a group of marine paintings attributed to him (Rome, Villa Colonna). His friendship in Rome with Paul Bril, mentioned by van Mander, had no effect on Hendrick's painting style, but Bril's influence is discernible in a group of landscape drawings
Velasquez
1599-1660,Spanish painter. He was apprenticed to Francisco Herrera the Elder before being trained by Francisco Pacheco. His early works were mostly religious or genre scenes. After arriving in Madrid in 1623, he painted a portrait of Philip IV that won him immediate success and an appointment as court painter. His position gave him access to the royal collections, including works by Titian, who exerted the greatest influence on his style. In his portraits from this period, only the faces and hands of the figures are accentuated, and the dark figures stand out against a light background. A visit to Italy (1629 ?C 31) further developed his style, and on his return to Madrid he entered his most productive period. Velazquez created a new type of informal royal portrait for Philip hunting lodge, and his portraits of court dwarfs display the same discerning eye as those of his royal subjects. On a second visit to Rome (1649 ?C 51) he painted a portrait of Pope Innocent X. The powerful head, brilliant combinations of crimson of the curtain, chair, and cope are painted with fluent technique and almost imperceptible brushstrokes that go far beyond the late manner of Titian and announce the last stage in Velazquez development. This portrait was copied innumerable times and won him immediate and lasting renown in Italy. In his last years he created his masterpiece, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour, 1656). In this casual scene, the artist is shown painting the king and queen in the presence of the infanta Margarita and her attendants; the nearly life size figures are painted in more or less detail according to their relation to the central figure of the infanta and to the source of light, creating a remarkable illusion of reality never surpassed by Velazquez or any other artist of his age. He is universally acknowledged as one of the giants of Western art.
PAOLINI, Pietro
Italian painter, Lucchese school (b. 1603, Lucca, d. 1681, Lucca) Italian painter. He was the son of Tommaso Paolini and Ginevra Raffaelli, both from Lucca. In 1619 Paolini's father sent him to study under Angelo Caroselli in Rome. His artistic formation was also influenced by the circle of Italian and, especially, northern European followers of Bartolomeo Manfredi, who were active in Rome between 1620 and 1630. The following works, though undocumented, may be dated to this Roman period: Martha and Mary Magdalene (Rome, Gal. Pallavicini), the Concert of Female Musicians (Malibu, CA, Getty Mus.) and the Bacchic Concert (Dallas, TX, Hoblitzelle priv. col., see Maccari Giusti, pl. 3). Paolini's first religious works, such as the Deposition (Lucca, S Frediano), as well as many portraits, also show signs of Roman influence. Around 1628 he went to Venice, where he stayed for two years. The effects of this visit can be seen in his later religious works, such as the Virgin and Saints (Rome, Pal. Barberini) and the Virgin and Saints (Lucca, Villa Guinigi), and also in his history paintings, such as Esther and Ahasuerus (Denver, CO, A. Mus.). He returned to Lucca in 1631, where, from these early experiences, he created an original style, in which he painted cabinet pictures, often on musical or allegorical themes, such as the Ages of Life (Lucca, Mazzarosa priv. col., see Maccari Giusti, pl. 10) and the series Music, Astronomy, Geometry, Philosophy (Lucca, Bertocchini Dinucci priv. col., see Maccari Giusti, pls 56-9). Around 1650 he opened, at his own expense, an academy based on the principle of 'art from nature', at which numerous artists, such as Girolamo Scaglia (d c. 1686), Antonio Franchi, Simone del Tintore and his brother Francesco (1645-1718) were trained.