Alexander Casteels the Elder or Alexander Casteels (I) ( – 1681–82) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He is known for his battle scenes and landscapes with hunters and elegant companies.
[Alexander Casteels (I)]
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
Life
Casteels was born in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, . His date of birth likely fell in the period from 1634 to 1636.
[ He was admitted as a ‘wijnmeester’ (‘wine master’, meaning a son of a master) in the Antwerp ]Guild of St. Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...
in the guild year 1658–1659.[Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, ''De Liggeren en andere Historische Archieven der Antwerpsche Sint Lucasgilde, onder Zinkspreuk: "Wy Jonsten Versaemt" afgeschreven en bemerkt door Ph. Rombouts en Th. Van Lerius, Advokaet, onder de bescherming van den raed van bestuer der koninklyke Akademie van beeldende Kunsten, van gezegde Stad'']
Volume 2, Antwerp, 1872, pp. 292, 300, 489
He married Catharina Theresia de Poorter. The couple had a son called Josephus Franciscus Casteels.[ Casteels worked with the Antwerp art dealers Forchondt who traded his works throughout Europe. He was one of the leading artists of the Forchondt firm in the second half of the century. They mainly sold his works in Central and Eastern Europe where there was a demand for his hunting and battle scenes among the local aristocrats. He belonged to the higher paid artists working for Forchondt.][Sandra van Ginhoven, ''Connecting Art Markets: Guilliam Forchondt’s Dealership in Antwerp (c.1632–78) and the Overseas Paintings Trade'', BRILL, 2016, p. 94, 136, 138, 254, 284]
He died in Antwerp between 18 September 1681 and 18 September 1682 since his death duties were paid to the Guild during that period.[
]
Work
He specialised in scenes of cavalry battles and landscapes with hunters and elegant companies.[ His cavalry battles do not depict any recognisable historical events but are imaginary such as in the case of the ''Joshua Fights the Amalekites'' (]National Gallery of Slovenia
The National Gallery of Slovenia ( sl, Narodna galerija) is the national art gallery of Slovenia. It is located in the capital Ljubljana. It was founded in 1918, after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of the State of Sloven ...
), which depicts a story from the bible. In this work the artist has taken inspiration from prints produced after the paintings of Antonio Tempesta. This is visible in the composition, the treatment of the landscape and the arrangement of the horses and riders. He also often painted the then popular theme of the battle between Christians and Turks, two examples of which are in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.Alexander Casteels, ''Reitergefecht gegen Türken ''
at the Alte Pinakothek The son of the founder of the Forchondt firm who was living in Vienna specifically requested for small and large-scale battle scenes by Alexander and that of another battle painter active in Antwerp called Pauwels Casteels, possibly a family member, to be sent to Vienna as there was a strong demand for their battle scenes in Central and Eastern Europe.[Reginald Howard Wilenski, ''Flemish Painters, 1430-1830'', Viking Press, 1960, p. 522]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Casteels, Alexander 1
1635 births
1681 deaths
17th-century Flemish painters
Flemish Baroque painters
Flemish landscape painters
Painters from Antwerp
17th-century war artists
Flemish war artists
