![Cornelis Engebrechtsz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Cornelis_Engebrechtsz._002.jpg)
Cornelis Engebrechtsz., also known as Cornelis Engelbrechtsz. (c.1462–1527) was an early Dutch painter. He was born and died in
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
, and is considered the first important painter from that city.
["Cornelis Engebrechtsz."](_blank)
J. Paul Getty Museum (archived) Engebrechtsz. taught a number of other Leiden painters, including
Lucas van Leyden,
Aertgen van Leyden and Engebrechtsz.' own sons
Cornelis,
Lucas, and
Pieter Cornelisz. Kunst. Lucas van Leyden is considered his most important pupil, eclipsing Engebrechtsz. in popularity.
["Engelbrechtsz. (or Engebrechtsz., Cornelis)" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art'', Oxford University Press, 2004]
Work by Engebrechtsz. is in the collection of the
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...
, the
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...
in Los Angeles, the
Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pi ...
in Munich and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York, among others.
Career
Engebrechtsz. was the first painter in Leiden to whom work can be attributed with certainty.
[Rijksmuseum Amsterdam](_blank)
(archived) The first mention of Engebrechtsz. in the archives was in 1482, when he sold some work to the Hieronymusdal priory (also known as Lopsen) in
Oegstgeest
Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in .
Etymology
The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cen ...
, near Leiden. He may have been trained as a painter in this monastery as well, although it is also quite possible that he received training in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Antwerp.
He painted primarily Biblical themes, like a
triptych
A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...
of the
Lamentation of Christ
The Lamentation of Christ is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque. After Jesus was crucified, his body was removed from the cross and his friends mourned over his body. This event has been depicted by m ...
and a triptych of the
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...
. Both were made for the Mariënpoel convent in Leiden and are now in Leiden's city museum,
Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal
Museum De Lakenhal is the city museum of fine art and history in Leiden, Netherlands. One highlight is its collection of fijnschilder paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Just like the city, the museum combines a classical appearance with a contemp ...
. He also received commissions from the Leiden city government. Engebrechtsz. had a large, prolific workshop where he produced devotional art, together with his sons and other pupils. Through his sons, his later work became more and more influenced by
Mannerism, a popular style of painting in
Antwerp at that time (see
Antwerp Mannerism
Antwerp Mannerism is the name given to the style of a group of largely anonymous painters active in the Southern Netherlands and principally in Antwerp in roughly the first three decades of the 16th century, a movement marking the tail end of Ear ...
). This Mannerist influence is clearly visible in the two triptychs.
Life
Engebrechtsz. was born sometime between 1460 and 1465. He probably lived in Leiden uninterrupted from about 1497 until his death. Engebrechtsz. was a member of the local archer ''
schutterij
Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...
'' (militia) from 1499 tot 1506 and the crossbow militia from 1515 to 1522. Around 1520 he served as captain of the crossbow militia.
Engebrechtsz. married Elysbeth Pietersdr. in of around 1487. They had six children, including three sons, all of whom followed in their father's footsteps and became painters. Engebrechtsz. died somewhere between 11 February and 26 August 1527. There was some quarreling over his inheritance after his death, indicating that he has amassed a considerable estate.
["Cornelis Engebrechtsz.", Grove Dictionary of Art](_blank)
(archived)
See also
*
Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting
Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting represents the 16th-century response to Italian Renaissance art in the Low Countries. These artists, who span from the Antwerp Mannerists and Hieronymus Bosch at the start of the 16th century to the late No ...
References
Further reading
* Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, ''Cornelis Engebrechtsz., a documentary study of the man and his artistic environment'', Gemeentelijke Archiefdienst (Leiden), 1975
* Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, ''Cornelis Engebrechtsz's Leiden: Studies in Cultural History'', Van Gorcum, Assen, 1979
* Franz Dülberg, ''Die Leydener Malerschule'', G. Schade (Berlijn), 1899
* Émile Gavelle, ''Cornelis Engebrechtsz: L'école de peinture de Leyde et le romantisme Hollandais au début de la Renaissance'', Raoust, Lille, 1929
* Walter S. Gibson, ''The paintings of Cornelis Engebrechtsz'', Garland, New York, 1977
External links
Cornelis Engebrechtsz.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 ...
Artcyclopedia: Cornelis Engebrechtsz.*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engebrechtsz, Cornelis
1460s births
1527 deaths
Dutch Renaissance painters
Artists from Leiden
Early Netherlandish painters