Bartholomeus Breenbergh (before 13 November 1598 – after 3 October 1657) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of Italian and Italianate landscapes, in Rome (1619-1630) and Amsterdam (1630-1657).

Biography

Little is known of his early life. In his three-volume ''Schouburg'', Arnold Houbraken mentioned him in his first volume with an entreaty to readers to write to him with more news of Breenbergh's biography.Bartholomeus Breenbergh Biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the

Digital library for Dutch literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

He had been told that Breenberg was born in Utrecht and had been a master of

Cornelis van Poelenburgh Cornelis van Poelenburgh or Cornelis van Poelenburch (1594 – 12 August 1667),Cornelis van Poelenburch
...

, which he knew to be impossible from the facts that he already had, namely "the birth of Poelenburg in 1586 and the death of Breenberg in 1660." Houbraken never received the information he requested, though he mentioned Breenbergh again in his second volume in a list of 59 competent painters who were contemporaries of

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 ...

and

Paulus Potter Paulus Potter (; 20 November 1625 (baptised) – 17 January 1654 (buried)) was a Dutch painter who specialized in animals within landscapes, usually with a low vantage point. Before Potter died of tuberculosis at the age of 28 he succeeded in ...

. According to the Netherlands Institute for Art History (

RKD 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 ...

), Breenbergh was born in the Netherlands town of Deventer, but after the death of his father in 1607 moved away with the rest of his family, probably to Hoorn. There he was a contemporary of

Jacques Waben Jacques Waben (c. 1590, Alkmaar – c. 1634, Hoorn), was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter. Biography According to Houbraken he was a good portrait and history painter, who painted both small and large pieces.