Gillis van Valckenborch or Egidius van Valckenborch (

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,

1570 –

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, end March or 1 April 1622)Gillis van Valckenborch
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History was a Flemish painter and draughtsman who spent most of his career in Germany. He was a member of the van Valckenborch dynasty of painters who painted mainly landscapes. Unlike his family members, he is mainly known for his large-scale compositions with many swirling figures depicting scenes from ancient history or mythology.Gillis van Valckenborch, ''The marriage of Peleus and Thetis''
at Lempertz While his landscape drawings evidence his interest in landscape art no landscape paintings have been attributed to him.K. Goossens, ''Gillis van Valckenborch'' in the Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek, IV, p. 849

Life

Gillis van Valckenborch was born into a well-known family of artists. Fourteen known painters are recorded in the family history. Of these, his father

Marten van Valckenborch Marten van Valckenborch or Marten van Valckenborch the Elder (1535 in Leuven – 1612 in Frankfurt), was a Flemish Renaissance painter, mainly known for his landscapes and city scapes. He also made allegorical paintings and some portraits. A ...

(1535-1612), his brother

Frederik van Valckenborch Frederik van Valckenborch (1566, in Antwerp – 1623, in Nuremberg) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and draughtsman known for his imaginary landscapes with figures executed in a late Mannerism, Mannerist style. His drawings are more ...

and his uncle Lucas van Valckenborch the elder achieved notable fame as painters.Alexander Wied and Hans Devisscher. "Valckenborch, van." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 25 February 2016 The van Valckenborch family was particularly known in the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

for landscape painting. Gillis van Valckenborch - The marriage of Peleus and Thetis

Originally from

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, Marten van Valckenborch moved to Antwerp in the 1560s. Like many other families in the region who had become

Calvinists Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, Marten moved with his family from the Spanish-occupied Spanish Netherlands to the more liberal environment of

, which was a German imperial outpost. The van Valckenborchs thrived in their new home town, quickly establishing themselves as authorities in the arts. They had an important influence on the artistic developments in Frankfurt am Main.Alexander Wied, "Marten van Valckenborch I" Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 February 2016 Gillis van Valckenborch received his earliest training in Antwerp possibly from his brother Frederik. It is believed Gillis and his brother Frederik travelled to Italy in 1590–1592, although there is no evidence for this trip other than a drawing of an Italian landscape by Gillis.Hans Devisscher. "Valckenborch, van." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 February 2016 On 4 October 1596 or 1597 Gillis van Valckenborch married Barbara van Hilden of Frankfurt. The couple had many children of whom their son Gillis the younger became a painter. Gillis the elder was accepted as a burgher of Frankfurt am Main on 24 February 1597. Just like his brother Frederik he was required to undergo a theological test before he was admitted as a burgher since they were suspected of being

Gnesio-Lutherans Gnesio-Lutherans (from Greek γνήσιος nesios genuine, authentic) is a modern name for a theological party in the Lutheran churches, in opposition to the Philippists after the death of Martin Luther and before the Formula of Concord. In t ...

. He remained active in his adopted hometown where he died.

Work

Gillis van Valckenborch left only seven fully signed and dated paintings. His ''Defeat of Sanherib'' in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum is one of his fully signed paintings. His known oeuvre of about 40 works has been attributed on the basis of his few signed paintings.Gillis van Valckenborch, ''Banquet of the Gods''
at Dorotheum He worked in a late Mannerist style.Gillis van Valckenborch
at Sotheby's Gillis van Valckenborch painted biblical and mythological scenes and figures, as well as protagonists from Greek and Roman history set in landscapes. Gillis van Valckenborch's many large-scale compositions are populated by an abundance of dynamic figures. Most of his surviving works are on large canvases of an oblong format, a type also favoured by his uncle Lucas. A characteristic feature of his work is the lively colouring, for which he primarily used pink and light blue hues.
at Dorotheum He often returned to the theme of the ''Feast of the Gods''. The most famous rendering of this theme is kept in the collection of Count Schönborn-Wiesentheit in Pommersfelden castle. He drew inspiration from the innovative works by the School of Prague such as

Bartholomeus Spranger Bartholomeus Spranger or Bartholomaeus SprangerBartholomeus Spranger
at the

and the movement of international Mannerism. Two pendant works depicting a scene of a fire in a village in the

National Gallery of Slovenia The National Gallery of Slovenia ( sl, Narodna galerija) is the national art gallery of Slovenia. It is located in the capital Ljubljana. It was founded in 1918, after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the establishment of the State of Sloven ...

have been attributed to van Valckenborch based on the traditional record Valkenburg, with which the paintings were catalogued in the Landesbildergalerie in Graz, on the style, and also on the motif. The paintings show close affinity with Gillis' signed painting of "The Rescuing of the Israelites in the stadium of Alexandria" in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in the presentation of the forms and in the brushwork, which interprets motifs and models of northern Mannerism. It is not entirely clear what the pendant paintings depict, whether it is some historical event, or that they have some moral meaning such as fire as punishment for the sinners carousing in the tavern in one of the paintings. That fire was one of his favourite motifs is testified by a lost painting said to have depicted ''The Burning of Troy'', which was also in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum until 1714.Gillis van Valckenborch, ''Fire in a village''
at the National Gallery of Slovenia

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valckenborch, Gillis van 1570 births 1622 deaths Flemish Renaissance painters Flemish history painters Draughtsmen from Antwerp Painters from Antwerp Artists from Frankfurt