Ferdinand van Kessel (1648 – 1696), was a Flemish Baroque painter known for his

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s and genre pieces with monkeys.Ferdinand van Kessel
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 ...

Life

He was 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,

as the son of

Jan van Kessel the Elder Jan van Kessel the Elder or Jan van Kessel (I) (baptized 5 April 1626, Antwerp – 17 April 1679, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp in the mid 17th century. A versatile artist he practised in many genres including studies of i ...

, who was the grandson of

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collaborato ...

.Ferdinand van Kessel
in

Jacob Campo Weyerman Jacob Campo Weyerman (9 August 1677 – 9 March 1747) was a painter and writer during the period known as the Dutch Enlightenment. His work encompassed flower and fruit still life paintings, satirical magazines, plays, and biographies of painter ...

, ''De levens-beschryvingen der Nederlandsche konst-schilders en konst-schilderessen, met een uytbreyding over de schilder-konst der ouden'', de Wed. E. Boucquet, H. Scheurleer, F. Boucquet, en J. de Jongh, 1729, pp. 291-303 He trained with his father from 1663. He moved to

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 ...

where he was the teacher of

and Louis de Moni. He died in Breda.

Work

According to Weyerman, Ferdinand's father was well known in his own day and only tipped his hat to

, who was the "Phoenix of landscape paintings with animals and birds". Though Ferdinand never achieved the level of his father, he was true to the van Kessel-Brueghel family name, and after

Jan Brueghel the Younger Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger (, ; ; 13 September 1601 – 1 September 1678) was a Flemish Baroque painter. He was the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder, and grandson of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, both prominent painters who c ...

died he was the only painter in Antwerp who carried on the family tradition. He was discovered by Mr. Molo, a representative of the Polish king

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

who sent a few of his cabinet pieces to Poland. When these were well received, he invited van Kessel to come to

to make enough paintings to decorate a whole room in the

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace ( pl, Pałac w Wilanowie, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. Wilanów Palace survived Poland's partitions and both World Wars, and so serves as a reminder of the culture of the Polish ...

. Van Kessel subsequently moved to Breda to fulfill this commission according to the taste of the Polish King. He began by painting scenes of the four elements on a sheet of copper three by four and a half feet wide. The four elements were each represented by cherubs, and the first painting was of a boy seated on an eagle representing ''Air'', surrounded by birds. ''Earth'' was a boy resting his arm on the back of a lion, surrounded by herbs, fruits and flowers. ''Fire'' was a boy surveying implements of war, with gold and silver inlaid harness, drums, embroidered silk banners and spears with damask coverlets, with a small monkey smoking a pipe and drinking a glass of rossoly (rosée du soleil). ''Water'' was a boy leaning on a crock symbolizing God's water source at the edge of a river surrounded with sea and river fish in the water, and pearls, corals and shells on shore. The whole was framed in ebony with a gold edging and surrounded by fourteen or fifteen symbols of the elements. Ferdinand van Kessel Moscow

This work was so well received that van Kessel was invited to make another series of the four continents for the King of Poland. Van Kessel continued to make paintings for him from his home in Breda and refused an invitation to work at the Polish court. When a fire damaged his paintings in Poland, he quickly offered to repaint the lost pieces from sketches he had made. He continued to fulfill commissions from Poland himself and subcontracted some of the work to other Antwerp painters (Historical allegories: Frans Ykens, Maas,

Caspar Jacob van Opstal Caspar is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Caspar (magus), a name traditionally given to one of the Three Magi in the Bible who brought the baby Jesus gifts *Caspar Austa (born 1982), Estonian cyclist *Caspar Badrutt (1848–1904) ...

, Charles Emmanuel Biset; Landscapes:

Pieter Spierinckx Pieter Spierincks or Pieter Nicolaes Spierinckx (30 August 1635, Antwerp – 30 August 1711, Antwerp or England) was a Flemish painter and designer of tapestries. He was an important representative of the Italianizing movement in Flemish landsca ...

, Rysbregts,

Peter van de Velde Peter van de Velde or Peter van den Velde was a Flemish marine painter who was active in Antwerp. Some art historians believe that the long lifespan attributed to this artist could hide two artists operating under the same name, possibly a fa ...

Abraham Genoels Abraham Genoels II or Abraham Genouil (nickname: Archimedes) (25 May 1640, Antwerp – 10 May 1723, Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer. He is now mainly known for his landscape paintings, drawings ...

; Flowers:

Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Elder ( Antwerp, 1635 – Antwerp, 16 April 1681) was a Flemish painter of flowers and garland paintings.

Jan Baptist Bosschaert Jan Baptist Bosschaert or Jan Baptist Bosschaert the Younger (baptized on 17 December 1667 in Antwerp − 1746 in Antwerp) was a Flemish still life painter who is principally known for his decorative still lifes with flowers. He collaborated wi ...

Simon Hardimé Simon Hardimé (1672–1737) was a Flemish painter of mixed Walloons, Walloon and Flemish descent.Jacob Campo Weyerman''De levens-beschryvingen der Nederlandsche konst-schilders en konst-schilderessen'' Volume 3, Dordrecht, Ab. Blussé en Zoon, ...

, and

Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Younger Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Younger ( Antwerp, baptized 3 September 1651 - Antwerp, buried 20 March 1704) was a Flemish still life painter. He worked in a range of still life genres including flower and fruit still lifes, banquet still lifes, pron ...

). This lasted until the death of the King in 1696, when his patron Mr. Molo refused to pay for commissions already commenced but not completed. Van Kessel also made a ceiling painting for the palace of

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

in Breda.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessel, Ferdinand van 1648 births 1696 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Landscape painters Artists from Antwerp