Hieronymus Janssens - Ball on the terrace of a palace, sometimes called

Hieronymus Janssens or Jeroom Janssens (nicknamed ''Den danser'') (1624,

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,

– 1693, Antwerp) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

known for his compositions depicting elegant companies engaging in dance, music or play, which were of influence on the development of the genre of the

conversation piece A conversation piece refers to a group portrait in a domestic or landscape setting depicting persons chatting or otherwise socializing with each other.Hieronymus Janssens
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 a student of

Christoffel Jacobsz van der Laemen Christoffel Jacobsz van der Laemen or Christoffel van der Laemen (1607/1620 – c. 1651) was a Flemish painter who specialized in merry company scenes with elegant figures.

in 1636-1637. He was first registered as 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 ...

of Antwerp in 1643-1644. He married Catharina van Dooren in 1650. He took on four pupils including Jacob Lafosse (III) in 1651-52.

Work

Elegant companies

Janssens' paintings are often both signed and dated, with dates ranging from 1646 to 1661. Like his teacher van der Laemen he was specialized in dance scenes, set inside a house or on an outside terrace. This is where he got the nickname ''Den danser'' or ''The dancer''. These works contributed to the development of the genre of the conversation piece in the Low Countries. His representations of elegant companies and balls and the works of

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 ...

, in particular his '' Garden of Love'' (

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 ...

), were significant for the formation of the genre. In this last work, Rubens showed how a garden could be used as a setting for amorous dalliance and courtship. One of Hieronymus Janssens' dance pieces depicts

King Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of King of England, England, Scotland and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II ...

dancing with his sister Mary of Orange at a ball in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

during the period of his exile. Some of his elegant company scenes such as '' The Prodigal Son Dining with a Music-Making Party'' and the '' Elegant company'' depict persons engaging in excessive drinking and apparently dissolute behaviour and ostensibly carry a moralistic message.

Architectural works

Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg and Hieronymous Janssens - A dungeon interior with elegant figures

Janssens also painted many architectural paintings usually of imaginary palaces, temples and art galleries. He based himself on existing buildings, including the house of Rubens in Antwerp, as well as on prints of

Hans Vredeman de Vries Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604 ...

, which were a source of perspectival effects. Playing with elements such as columns, pilasters and windows he created imaginary, monumental constructions. The architectural features with their perspectival exaggeration as well as the use of

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

created a dramatic effect in Janssens' work.Jetty E. van der Sterre. "Janssens, Hieronymus."
Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 8 May. 2014 He frequently painted these works in collaboration with other artists such as

Dirck van Delen Dirck van Delen or Dirck Christiaensz van Delen (c. 1605 – 16 May 1671) was a Dutch painter who specialized exclusively in architectural paintings, principally depicting palace perspectives and church interiors. Life Van Delen was born in ...

Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg or Willem Schubart van Ehrenberg (also: Wilhem Schubert von Ehrenberg or Wilhem Schubert van Ehrenberg ( Antwerp, 1630 or 1637– Antwerp, c. 1676) was a Flemish painter mainly active in Antwerp who specialized i ...

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 ...

Gallery paintings

Janssens contributed to the genre of the 'gallery paintings'. The 'gallery paintings' genre is native to Antwerp where

Frans Francken the Younger Frans Francken the Younger (1581 in Antwerp, 1581 – 6 May 1642, in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter who created altarpieces and furniture panels and gained his reputation chiefly through his small and delicate cabinet pictures with historical, m ...

and

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 ...

were the first artists to create paintings of art and curiosity collections in the 1620s.Susan Merriam, ''Seventeenth Century Flemish Garland Paintings. Still Life, Vision and the Devotional Image'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2012 Gallery paintings depict large rooms in which many paintings and other precious items are displayed in elegant surroundings. The earliest works in this genre depicted art objects together with other items such as scientific instruments or peculiar natural specimens. The genre became immediately quite popular and was followed by other artists such as

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 ...

Cornelis de Baellieur Cornelis de Baellieur (1607, Antwerp – 1671, Antwerp), was a Flemish Baroque painter. Biography According to the RKD he was a pupil of Anthonis Liesaert and is known for paintings of art galleries such as '' Interior of an Art Gallery'' ...

Hans Jordaens Hans Jordaens the Elder (1555–1630), was a Flemish Baroque painter whose religious works are often confused with that of other painters with the same name. Biography He was born in Antwerp, but after the siege of Antwerp, his family moved to ...

David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile arti ...

Gillis van Tilborch Gillis van Tilborgh or Gillis van Tilborch (''c''. 1625 – ''c''. 1678) was a Flemish painter who worked in various genres including portraits, 'low-life' and elegant genre paintings and paintings of picture galleries. He became the keeper of ...

and Hieronymus Janssens himself.Marr, Alexander (2010) 'The Flemish 'Pictures of Collections' Genre: An Overview', Intellectual History Review, 20: 1, 5 — 25 A good example is the ''Picture Gallery with Fashionable Visitors'' (National Trust, Uppark House and Garden, West Sussex) dated to the 1660s. The gallery depicted is an imaginary gallery with three allegorical figures who are admiring a canvas of the 'Last Judgement'. On a table by a window are placed pieces of sculpture, a globe, and other objects. The contrast between the precious objects on the table and the 'Last Judgement' in the foreground illustrates the idea of vanitas: the ultimate vanity of earthly pleasures.

Influence

His work was of influence on later Flemish genre painters such as Jan Josef Horemans the Younger, whose work ''Presenting the newborn'' (current whereabouts unknown) borrowed extensively from Janssens' '' Ball on the terrace of a palace'' ( Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille).''The Collector's Cabinet: Flemish Paintings from New England Private Collections'', Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1983, p. 70

Selected works

* 1658: ''Ball on the terrace of a palace'', Palais des Beaux-Arts in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. * 1673: ''Group of people in the St. Rumbold's Church in Mechelen'', painted in collaboration with Willem Schubart von Ehrenberg,

The Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. * ''Game of Main Chaude or Hot Cockles'', The Louvre in Paris. * ''A picture gallery with fashionable visitors'', Uppark House and Garden, West Sussex

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Janssens, Hieronymus Flemish Baroque painters Flemish genre painters Painters from Antwerp 1624 births 1693 deaths