Cornelis van Dalem - Farmyard with a Beggar

Cornelis van Dalem (1530/35 – 1573 or 1576) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp in the middle of the 16th century and an important contributor to the development of landscape art in the Low Countries.Carl Van de Velde. "Dalem, Cornelis van." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 22 Mar. 2015 Van Dalem introduced into landscape painting new themes, which he derived from his humanistic education, and searched for new ways of representing his themes.Tanja Michalsky, ''Projektion und Imagination: Die niederländische Landschaft der Frühen Neuzeit im Diskurs von Geographie und Malerei'', Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 20 July 2011, p. 249–250

Life

Details about his life are scarce. He was likely 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 father was a nobleman originally from

Tholen Tholen () is a 25,000 people municipality in the southwest of the Netherlands. The municipality of Tholen takes its name from the town of Tholen, which is the largest population center in the municipality. The municipality consists of two peninsu ...

who had moved to Antwerp where he was operating as a cloth merchant. His father was active in the local

Chamber of rhetoric Chambers of rhetoric ( nl, rederijkerskamers) were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly inte ...

'De Olyftack' in Antwerp and was the chamber's dean in 1552–3. The van Dalem family was a cultured family. Cornelis and his older brother Lodewijk likely enjoyed a

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

education and were both trained as painters with the obscure artist Jan Adriaensens. Cornelis commenced his training in 1543 and became a master in the

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 1556. The same year married Beatrix van Liedekercke, a member of a wealthy family. Cornelis van Dalem, Jan van Wechelen - Landscape with nomads

Despite being a member of the Guild of Saint Luke, Cornelis van Dalem only practiced painting as an amateur and he remained a merchant his entire career. He was independently wealthy and did not need to rely on his art to make a living. However, he regarded art as an important part of his life as is demonstrated by the way he decorated the facade of his Antwerp residence. Cornelis had the façade of his house decorated with a splendour not seen in Northern Europe. The façade had a relief of the goddess Pictura in front of an easel, of Minerva and Mercury as well the stone busts of Durer and Jan van Eyck with laudatory inscriptions.

Bartholomeus Spranger Bartholomeus Spranger or Bartholomaeus SprangerBartholomeus Spranger
at the

was a registered pupil of van Dalem from 1560 to 1564. Van Dalem appears not to have been concerned much about teaching Spranger the art of painting but more about ensuring that his apprentice kept his studio clean and tidy. At the end of his four years of apprenticeship, Spranger is said to have been frustrated about his lack of progress. Around this time there were also increasing rumours about the possible heretical leanings of the van Dalem household: it was said they never went to the Catholic Church but rather attended Protestant gatherings. These rumours appear to have forced the van Dalems to leave Antwerp and settle on a castle near

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

. Accusations of heresy were said to have been reiterated against Cornelis in 1571 and he may have given refuge to a radical sect of

Anabaptists Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

.Beeldenstorm 2: Close-ups van kunst uit Nederlandse musea, Volume 2 Henk van Os Amsterdam University Press, 1998, p. 145–148 He died in Breda in 1573.Cornelis van Dalem
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 ...

Work

General

Only a few works by Cornelis van Dalem are known. The majority of these are landscapes. His oeuvre also includes a few genres scenes and possibly an architectural painting of a church interior.interior with Christ preaching to a crowd''
at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam He is considered one of the possible candidates for the authorship of the series of landscape drawings attributed to the

Master of the Small Landscapes The Master of the Small Landscapes (in Dutch language, Dutch: Meester van de Kleine Landschappen) was a Seventeen Provinces, Flemish artist from the mid-16th century known for his landscape drawings. The name of this unidentified artist is deri ...

. The importance of van Dalem lies in the fact that he introduced into landscape painting new themes (such as the origin of civilization), which he derived from his humanistic education, and his innovative way of representing his themes. Van Dalem is known to have collaborated regularly with his fellow artists who painted the staffage in his landscapes or architectural paintings. His most regular collaborator was Jan van Wechelen with whom at least three collaborations are suspected. He further worked with

Gillis Mostaert Gillis Mostaert the Elder (27 or 28 November 1528 – 28 December 1598) was a Flemish Renaissance painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp in the second half of the 16th century.

(who may have painted the staffage in the '' Landscape with Farmhouse'',

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) Pinak ...

). as well as with

Joachim Beuckelaer Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1533 – c. 1570/4) was a Flemish painter specialising in market and kitchen scenes with elaborate displays of food and household equipment. He also painted still lifes with no figures in the central scene.

'Rock paintings'

Cornelis van Dalem - The Dawn of Civilization - Google Art Project

The early 17th century artist biographer

Karel van Mander Karel van Mander (I) or Carel van Mander I (May 1548 – 2 September 1606) was a Flemish painter, poet, art historian and art theoretician, who established himself in the Dutch Republic in the latter part of his life. He is mainly remembe ...

called van Dalem an excellent painter of rocks ('fraye schilder van rotsen').Hans van Wechlen, ''Peasants merrymaking at a village kermesse''
at Sotheby's And indeed several of his landscape paintings feature extensive rock parties with grottos. Examples are the '' Landscape with Adam and Eve'' of 1564 ( Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts) and the '' Landscape with herders'' of c. 1560 (

Prado Museum The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

). Van Dalem's rock landscapes often include a grotto where some human activity is going on. These works had an influence on

Joos de Momper Joos de Momper the Younger or Joost de Momper the Younger (1564February5, 1635) was a Flemish landscape painter active in Antwerp between the late 16th century and the early 17th century. Brueghel's influence is clearly evident in many of de Momp ...

who was an important adept of the genre and created about 70 paintings of this motif. One of the most ambitious grotto scenes painted by van Dalem was the composition referred to as '' The dawn of civilization'' (

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located at ...

). In this complex composition van Dalem attempts to depict the origin of human civilization, a very challenging topic for a painting. Only one artist is known to have attempted this subject matter before: the Italian

Piero di Cosimo Piero di Cosimo (2 January 1462 – 12 April 1522), also known as Piero di Lorenzo, was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. He is most famous for the mythological and allegorical subjects he painted in the late Quattrocento; he is said to ...

who painted a number of paintings of the state of mankind just before the onset of civilization one of which is in the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

. Di Cosimo's works deal with the history of early man and derive their visual inspiration from passages in Book 5 of ''De rerum natura'' by

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into E ...

(98-c.55BC), in which the role of fire is emphasized in the origins of life on earth and the birth of community life. Di Cosimo stresses the devastating effects of uncontrolled fire in his composition. Cornelis van Damen - Rocky landscape with nomads

Cornelis van Damen - Rocky landscape with nomads

Van Dalem's composition, which was probably made in 1565, is dominated by a high, steep cliff which only leaves a small strip of heaven at the top of the painting. A large round hole in the rock allows a view onto a wide landscape in the distance. The top of the rock is covered with trees and shrubs that are painted very precisely and a flute-playing shepherd descends the cliff amidst his herd of goats. Below the cliff is a cave covered with reeds and people clad in rough clothes. It has been surmised that van Dalem intended to depict primitive man in his natural environment, as described in the ''De rerum natura''. He shows in his composition several elements that were deemed at the time to play a role in the civilization process such as communication, fixed housing, domestication of animals and culture (music). The old man in the middle of the painting steps out of a sort of primitive gate, which symbolizes the border between nature and civilization. The painting of van Dalem which is represented in the famous gallery painting of '' The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest'' by

Willem van Haecht Willem van Haecht (1593 – 12 July 1637) was a Flemish painter best known for his pictures of art galleries and collections. Life Willem van Haecht was born in Antwerp as the son of the landscape painter Tobias Verhaecht. Tobias Verhaecht wa ...

also treats a similar subject. Van Dalem's picture is the one just below the chandelier and is referred to as '' Rocky landscape with nomads''. This composition appears to depict a further stage of development in the evolution of man when people have founded communities and wear woven clothes. A painting with a similar subject matter depicting the Flight into Eypt was formerly in the

Gemäldegalerie, Berlin The Gemäldegalerie (, ''Painting Gallery'') is an art museum in Berlin, Germany, and the museum where the main selection of paintings belonging to the Berlin State Museums (''Staatliche Museen zu Berlin'') is displayed. It was first opened in ...

but was lost during World War II.

Nature v culture

Dalem, Cornelis - Landscape with Farmhouse - 1564

The paintings dealing with the subject of the development of civilization find their counterpart in the composition '' Landscape with Farmhouse'' (1564,

). Here van Dalem seems to address the topic of the decay of culture, which is represented in the form of a ruined church, dilapidated hut and barren trees and earth. The composition's theme of the eternal conflict of man and nature further refers to the idea of the lost paradise and the futility of the efforts of mankind to return to that lost age in which man and nature where one. An alternative reading of the meaning of picture is that it refers to the decay of the Catholic Church particularly because van Dalem put his signature in the ruins of the church.

The baker of Eeklo

An interesting foray into

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 ...

is the composition ''The Legend of the Baker of Eeklo'' which he painted in collaboration with Jan van Wechelen. The original of the painting is lost but a presumed copy of the original is part of the collection of the

Rijksmuseum 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 St ...

and is on loan to the

Muiderslot Muiden Castle (Dutch: ''Muiderslot'', ) is a castle in the Netherlands, located at the mouth of the Vecht river, some 15 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam, in Muiden, where it flows into what used to be the Zuiderzee. It is one of the better kno ...

. There also exist many versions said to have been made by the circle of Cornelis van Dalem and Jan van Wechelen or after Cornelis van Dalem and Jan van Wechelen. The composition was also engraved by Frederik Bouttats the Younger. The painting depicts a legend told about the citizens of Eeklo in Flanders. When they were unhappy with the look of their heads, they would go to the village bakery. There the baker and his assistants would lop off their heads and place cabbages on their necks to stem the bleeding. The improved heads would then be kneaded and rolled, rubbed with a new finish, baked in the oven and ultimately replaced. The composition recounts the whole process. However, there was always the risk that a new head would fail to bake, or over-bake, thus resulting in a deformed or deficient head. At the back of the bakery we can see a woman holding a severed head who is having a discussion with the baker dressed in red. She is probably trying to return the head of her husband with which she is not happy. This story had a moral and cautionary message for those who were dissatisfied with their appearance and wanted to do something drastic about it.

Publishing

Cornelis van Damen was also involved in publishing activities. In 1561 he was responsible for the publication of Frans Huys' two-sheet '' engraving of the entire Strait of Messina'' seen in bird's-eye view after a design by

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 ...

. There is still uncertainty as to the actual level of involvement of van Dalen in the publication of this engraving. It has been suggested that possibly van Dalem was only the backer and initiator in whose name the publishing privilege was issued and that the actual publishing was undertaken by an established publisher such as for instance

Hieronymus Cock Hieronymus Cock, or Hieronymus Wellens de Cock (1518 – 3 October 1570) was a Flemish painter and etcher as well as a publisher and distributor of prints.

.Nadine Orenstein, ''Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints'', Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Jan 2001, p. 206

Reception

Cornelis van Dalem's paintings were highly esteemed by the next generation of artists:

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

's estate included one of his works, and a representation of one of his paintings is featured in the famous gallery painting of '' The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest'' by

. The prominent 17th century Antwerp art collector Pieter Stevens is said to have owned one of his paintings. Van Dalem's name was forgotten in later ages and it was only in the early 20th century that art historians such as Ludwig Burchard rediscovered the artist and his work.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalem, Cornelis Van Flemish Renaissance painters Flemish landscape painters Flemish genre painters Painters from Antwerp 1530 births 1573 deaths