Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Elder (

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,

, 1635 –

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,

, 16 April 1681) was a Flemish painter of flowers and garland paintings.Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen (I)
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History

Life

Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Elder was baptized in the St. James' Church in Antwerp on 8 September 1635. His father, also called Gaspar or Kasper, was a gardener who owned a house and a large garden where he grew herbs and flowers. This may explain the young Gaspar's interest in flower painting.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 1137-1139 Gaspar was registered at the Antwerp

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 ...

as a pupil of the painter

Cornelis Mahu Cornelis Mahu (1613 – 16 November 1689) was a Flemish painter of still lifes, genre paintings and seascapes who showed a very high level of craftsmanship in his compositions. Life Mahu was born in Antwerp. Nothing is known about his training ...

in the guild year 1644–45. Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, De liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpsche sint Lucasgilde
Volume 2, Antwerp, 1864, p. 164, on

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Five years later he was registered as a master of the Guild. He married Catharina van Zeverdonck on 17 February 1658 with whom he had 11 children. After the death of his wife on 24 August 1674 he married Sara Catharina Raeps on 13 June 1697. At the time of his death on 16 April 1681 there were still six minor children alive: Anna Catharina, Marie Isabella, Gaspar Peeter, Maria Magdalena, Petronella and (from the second marriage) Balthasar Hyacint. Gaspar and Balthasar Hyacint became still life painters. He was a successful artist as demonstrated by the fact that his estate included six houses and valuable household effects. His pupils were his oldest son Gaspar Peeter, Gillis Vinck the younger, Joris Carpentero, Norbertus Beeckmans, Norbertus Martini and Jacobus Seldenslach.

Work

Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Elder was known for his flower still lifes and garland paintings. His flower still lifes date from 1654 to 1680. An important portion of Verbruggen's output falls into the category of 'garland paintings'. Garland paintings are a type of still life invented in early 17th century Antwerp by

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 ...

and subsequently practised by leading Flemish still life painters, and in particular Daniel Seghers. Paintings in this genre typically show a flower or, less frequently, fruit garland around a devotional image or portrait. In the later development of the genre, the devotional image is replaced by other subjects such as portraits, mythological subjects and allegorical scenes.Susan Merriam, ''Seventeenth-Century Flemish Garland Paintings. Still Life, Vision and the Devotional Image'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2012David Freedberg, "The Origins and Rise of the Flemish Madonnas in Flower Garlands, Decoration and Devotion", ''Münchener Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst'', xxxii, 1981, pp. 115–150. Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter. Verbruggen's collaborators on his garland paintings have not been identified but it is believed they included

Peter Ykens Peter Ykens (1648 – 1695), was a Flemish painter mainly known for his history paintings and portraits. He regularly collaborated with specialist still painters and landscape artists for whose works he provided the staffage.< ...

and

Jacobus Ferdinandus Saey Jacobus Ferdinandus Saey or Jacob Ferdinand Saeys (1658 – after 1726) was a Flemish painter who specialized in architectural paintings depicting gallant companies amidst imaginary Renaissance and Baroque palaces and buildings. After starting h ...

. His collaborators painted the figure or figures inside the cartouche while Verbruggen painted the flower garland.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verbruggen, Gaspar Peeter 1635 births 1681 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Flemish still life painters Artists from Antwerp Painters from Antwerp Flower artists