Andries Both (1612/1613 – 23 March 1642), was a Dutch

genre painter 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 ...

. He was part of the group of Dutch and Flemish genre painters active in Rome in the 17th century known as 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 ...

, who painted scenes from 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.Ludovica Trezzani. "Both." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 23 June 2017

Life

Both, pronounced , was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, the son of a glass painter. He studied under

Abraham Bloemaert Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker in etching and engraving. He was initially working in the style of the "Haarlem Mannerists", but in the 16th century altered his style in line with the ...

. His brother

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

was a genre and landscape painter. Andries resided in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

in 1633 and later traveled on to

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 ...

where his presence is documented from 1635 to 1641. He first shared a studio with a fellow painter from Utrecht, Jan van Causteren. In 1638 his brother joined him. The brothers lived on the Via Vittoria in the parish of

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( it, Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Lucina or simply it, San Lorenzo in Lucina; la, S. Laurentii in Lucina) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. ...

and both may have joined the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

and the group of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome called 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 ...

In 1641 the brothers left Rome to travel back to the Netherlands. Andries died in Venice by drowning in a canal as he was returning from some festivities.

Work

His work is noted for its humorous and outrageous quality, mixed with objectivity and harsh reality, depicting the seamier side of Italian life with broad strokes. The style, known as Bambocciata, after the nickname of its originator, the Dutch painter

Pieter van Laer Pieter Bodding van Laer (christened 14 December 1599, Haarlem – 1641 or later) was a Dutch painter and printmaker. He was active in Rome for over a decade and was known for genre scenes, animal paintings and landscapes placed in the environs ...

, who was known in Rome as ''il bamboccio,'', which means "ugly doll" or "

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

". This was an allusion to van Laer's ungainly appearance, as he is said to have had unusually long legs, short chest and almost no neck. These Bambocciata works were informed by existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from 16th-century Netherlandish art. They were generally 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 or

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s of the

of the lower classes in Rome and its countryside., pp. 132–134. Andries Both's low-life genre paintings were also influenced by the older tradition of

Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genre ...

as well as that of the Flemish genre painter Adriaen Brouwer who had worked in the Dutch Republic for an extensive period in the 1620s.

List of known paintings

*''Scene in a brothel'' (Formerly also known as 'the return of the prodigal son'); Canvas, 44 x 51 cm **Bredius Museum; Inv.nr. 116-1946, Cat.nr.2

*''Travellers by a Well'' (1635–1641); wood **NGV International, The Art Foundation of Victoria; accession no. E3-198

*''Boors Carousing'' (1634, Utrecht) *''Card Players'' (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) *''Hunting by candlelight'' (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Both, Andries 1610s births 1642 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Dutch genre painters Members of the Bentvueghels Artists from Utrecht Dutch expatriates in Italy