Anton Goubau - Mercenaries plundering a village

Anton Goubau or Anton Goebouw (1616 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,

– 1698 in Antwerp) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He spent time in Rome where he moved in the circle of the

Bamboccianti The ''Bamboccianti'' were genre painters active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century. Most were Dutch and Flemish artists who brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from sixteenth-century Netherland ...

, Dutch and Flemish genre painters who created small

cabinet painting A cabinet painting (or "cabinet picture") is a small painting, typically no larger than two feet (0.6 meters) in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used for paintings that show full-length figures or landscapes at a s ...

s of the

everyday life Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or normal. Human diurnality means most peop ...

of the lower classes in Rome and its countryside. He is known for his Italianate landscapes and

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...

s in the style of the Bamboccianti and his

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

s with mythological and religious themes.Jesús Ángel Sánchez Rivera, ''Sobre una serie de cobres flamencos de pintores en la estela de Rubens''
Anales de Historia del Arte, vol. extraordinario: 'Saberes artísticos bajo signo y designios del "Urbinate"' (2011), pp. 483-505 Goubau, Antoni, I
in ''Grove Art Online''

Life

Goubau was born in a well-off family in Antwerp.Bild des Monates
at the Kurpfälzisches Museum He commenced his study of painting under Jan de Farius in 1629. He became a master of the Antwerp

Guild of Saint 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 Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...

in 1636 or 1637.Anton Goubau
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

He is recorded in Paris in 1642 and then travelled on to Italy. He stayed in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 1644 to 1650.Anton Goubau, Market in a Southern Port
at Lempertz Here he became close to the group of genre painters around Pieter van Laar commonly referred to as the 'Bamboccianti'. Anton Goubau - The Study of art in Rome

There is no evidence that he joined the

Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which included ...

, the association of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists working in Rome, even though he painted a work entitled '' The study of art in Rome'' (1662, now in the

Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen'', ''KMSKA'') is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth t ...

), which depicts several members of the Bentvueghels making drawings of Antique ruins in a landscape outside Rome. This proves that he moved in the circle of the Bentvueghels. In 1650 Goubau returned to Antwerp, where he received many commissions for religious works.Anton Goubau - Italian landscape with a shepherdess and ruins
at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

He also continued to paint Italianate landscapes with many figures and antique ruins serving an international clientele including German aristocrats. His pupils included Abraham Couchet, Arnold Gerardi, Justus Gerardi, Laureys Goubau,

Nicolas de Largillière Nicolas de Largillière (; 10 October 1656 – 20 March 1746) was a French portrait painter, born in Paris. Biography Early life Largillière's father, a merchant, took him to Antwerp at the age of three. As a boy, he spent nearly two years in ...

, Jan Baptist Tijssens the Elder and

Jan Baptist Tijssens the Younger Jan Baptist Tijssens the Younger (1660–1723) was a Flemish painter mainly known for his 'guardroom scenes' and still lifes. Goubau is best known as a painter of market scenes placed in a Roman or Mediterranean setting, often decorated with many small figures in the style of the Bamboccianti. The name Bamboccianti is given to a loose group of principally Dutch and Flemish genre painters who were active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century and took as the subject of their paintings the

of the lower classes in Rome and its countryside. During his trip to Italy, Goubau was able to familiarize himself with the work of masters like

Paul Bril Paul Bril (1554 – 7 October 1626) was a Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 September 2016 He spent most of h ...

(known for his Italianate landscapes) and the Bamboccianti painters

Jan Miel Jan Miel (1599 in Beveren-Waas – April 1664 in Turin) was a Flemish painter and engraver who was active in Italy. He initially formed part of the circle of Dutch and Flemish genre painters in Rome who are referred to as the 'Bamboccianti' ...

Jan Both Jan Dirksz Both (between 1610 and 1618 - August 9, 1652) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher, who made an important contribution to the development of Dutch Italianate landscape painting. Biography Both was born in Utrecht, and was ...

Michael Sweerts Michiel Sweerts or Michael Sweerts (29 September 1618 – 1 June 1664) was a Flemish painter and printmaker of the Baroque period, who is known for his allegorical and genre paintings, portraits and tronies. The artist led an itinerant li ...

and

Johannes Lingelbach Johannes (or Johann) Lingelbach (1622–1674) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, associated with the second generation of Bambocciate, a group of genre painters working in Rome from 1625–1700. Biography Lingelbach was born in Frankfurt, ...

. This was crucial to the development of his style and subject matter along the Italianate genre style. On his return to Antwerp he painted Italianate landscapes with many small figures which show the influence of Bartholomew Breenbergh,

and the early Roman compositions of

Jan Asselijn Jan Asselijn (c.1610 – October 1, 1652) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography Asselijn was born at Dieppe from a French Huguenot family as ''Jean Asselin''. He received instruction from Esaias van de Velde (1587–1630), and distingu ...

. He showed generally more interest in evoking a Roman atmosphere than correct topographical representation and combined several sites in Rome to create a kind of synthesis of the sights in Rome. In some paintings he shows a more specific topographical interest. Anton Goubau - Peasants before church steps

Anton Goubau - Peasants before church steps

He occasionally painted so-called 'guardroom scenes', a type of genre scene depicting an interior with officers and soldiers who spend their off duty time making merry. The genre had become popular in the mid-17th century, particularly in the Dutch Republic. In Flanders there were also a few practitioners of the genre including

David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile arti ...

Abraham Teniers Abraham Teniers (1 March 1629 – 26 September 1670) was a Flemish painter and engraver who specialized in genre paintings of villages, inns and monkey scenes. He was a member of artist family Teniers which came to prominence in the 17th century. ...

Gillis van Tilborch Gillis van Tilborgh or Gillis van Tilborch (''c''. 1625 – ''c''. 1678) was a Flemish painter who worked in various genres including portraits, 'low-life' and elegant genre paintings and paintings of picture galleries. He became the keeper of ...

Cornelis Mahu Cornelis Mahu (1613 – 16 November 1689) was a Flemish painter of still lifes, genre paintings and seascapes who showed a very high level of craftsmanship in his compositions. Life Mahu was born in Antwerp. Nothing is known about his train ...

and Jan Baptist Tijssens the Younger. Guardroom scenes often included mercenaries and prostitutes dividing booty, harassing captives, or indulging in other forms of reprehensible activities. A good example of the genre is the ''Guardroom'' painting at the

Kurpfälzisches Museum The Kurpfälzisches Museum (Palatinate Museum) is a museum of art and archaeology in Heidelberg, Germany. It is located in the Palais Morass. It was founded in the late 1870s, when the city of Heidelberg purchased the private collection of the ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, which depicts eight soldiers around a table in a monumental room. In line with the moralizing intent of the genre, the various figures depict the Flemish saying ''Kaart, kous en kan maakt menig arm man'' (Cards, women and drink have ruined many a man). The card players are crouching on the floor, while a provocatively dressed woman is playing a lute and a soldier with his back turned towards the viewer is raising his glass to a man who is smoking. A man slumped in the right corner represents 'acedia' (apathy), considered to be one of the seven

cardinal sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

. The painting also references the theme of

vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are ''van ...

through the still life of a standard and military equipment at the front on the right, which expresses the transience of power and fame.''Guardroom'' painting at the Kurpfälzisches Museum
in Heidelberg In addition to his cityscapes, Goubau painted many religious compositions, especially designed for churches in Antwerp. He also made a number of religious paintings on copper as part of a series made for the Spanish market to which other Flemish painters such as

Willem van Herp Willem van Herp (I) or Willem van Herp the Elder (variations on first name: 'Guilliam', 'Gilliam' and 'Guillaume') (c. 1614 in Antwerp – 1677) was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in religious paintings and small cabinet paintings of "low ...

Erasmus Quellinus II Erasmus Quellinus the Younger or Erasmus Quellinus II (1607–1678) was a Flemish painter, engraver, draughtsman and tapestry designer who worked in various genres including history, portrait, allegorical, battle and animal paintings. He was a ...

, and possibly

Abraham Willemsens Abraham Willemsens or Abraham Willemsen (c. 1605-1610 - 1672), was a Flemish painter of history and genre paintings.Ab ...

contributed. The series is now kept in the Convent of las Comendadoras de Santiaga in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. He painted portraits as evidenced by the portrait of Gaspar de Witte, which was engraved by

Richard Collin Richard Collin (1626, Luxembourg – 1698, Brussels), was an engraver from Luxembourg. Biography According to the RKD he was a pupil of Joachim von Sandrart in Rome, and became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1650–1651.

for

Cornelis de Bie Cornelis de Bie (10 February 1627 – ) was a Flemish '' rederijker'', poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier. He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies. He is known internationally today for his biographical sketches of Flemish ...

's collection of artist biographers entitled

Het Gulden Cabinet ''Het Gulden Cabinet vande Edel Vry Schilder-Const'' or ''The Golden Cabinet of the Noble Liberal Art of Painting'' is a book by the 17th-century Flemish notary and ''Chamber of rhetoric, rederijker'' Cornelis de Bie published in Antwerp. Writte ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goubau, Anton Flemish Baroque painters Flemish genre painters Flemish landscape painters Flemish history painters Painters from Antwerp 1616 births 1698 deaths