Lucas Vorsterman - Triumph of Poverty - WGA25304

Lucas Vorsterman (1595–1675) was a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

engraver. He worked with the 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 ...

and

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

, as well as for patrons such as

Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel KG, (7 July 1585 – 4 October 1646) was a prominent English courtier during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I, but he made his name as a Grand Tourist and art collector rather than as a politic ...

and

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

Biography

Vorsterman was born in

Zaltbommel Zaltbommel (), also known, historically and colloquially, as Bommel, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. History The city of Zaltbommel The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel received ...

. Around 1618, Vorsterman joined Rubens' workshop. Between 1619 and 1621, Vorsterman was Rubens's sole engraver. At that time, Rubens had embarked upon a printmaking enterprise in which he enlisted Vorsterman to engrave a number of his notable paintings, to which Rubens appended personal and professional dedications to noteworthy individuals. In 1621, a violent dispute arose between Vorsterman and Rubens. It is not clear whether there was a physical altercation between the two men, but the situation was sufficiently serious for Rubens' lawyers to petition the authorities for a protection order, which was granted. The exact causes of the dispute are not known, but it has generally been assumed that its source was in the issue of ownership of the authorial rights to the prints engraved by Vorsterman on the basis of Rubens' designs. In 1621, Vorsterman began to add his own dedications to his engravings after Rubens' paintings. Before the dispute arose, their relationship had ostensibly been good since Rubens had agreed to be godfather to Vorsterman's eldest son Lucas Vorsterman II. The dispute ended the working relationship between the two men. In 1624, Vorsterman went to England and survived on the patronage of royalty and nobility. He returned to Antwerp in 1630 and was one of the printmakers selected by Van Dyck to engrave plates for his ''Iconography''. Vorsterman executed twenty-two of the original eighty plates.Lucas Vorsterman (1595-1675) at the Fitzwilliam Museum
/ref> Vorsterman lost his sight in his old age and he lived in poverty. He lived on the support of the Antwerp

Guild of St 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 identi ...

until his death in 1675. His pupils include

Paulus Pontius Paulus Pontius (May 1603 in Antwerp – 16 January 1658 in Antwerp) was a Flemish engraver and painter. He was one of the leading engravers connected with the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens. After Rubens' death, Pontus worked with other leadin ...

Hans Witdoeck Hans Witdoeck or Jan Witdoeck (Antwerp, baptized 8 December 1615 - probably Antwerp, after 1642) was a Flemish people, Flemish engraver, draughtsman and art dealer.

Jacob Neefs Jacob Neefs or Jacob Neeffs ( Antwerp, 1610 – Antwerp, after 1660) was a Flemish etcher, engraver and publisher. He worked on publication projects for prominent Flemish artists of his time including Rubens, van Dyck and Jordaens. Life Jacob N ...

and

Marinus Robyn van der Goes Marinus Robyn van der Goes or Marinus van der GoesAlternative names: Marinus Robin van der Goes, Ignatius Cornelis Marinus, Ignatius Cornelis Marinus (Goes or London?, 1599 - Antwerp, 1639) was a Flemish engraver. He was active as a reproductive ...

. Vosterman's son

Lucas Vorsterman II Lucas Vorsterman II, Lucas Vorsterman the Younger or Lucas Vorsterman Junior (1624 – between 1666 and 1676) was a Flemish Baroque engraver and draughtsman. He produced engravings after the work of the leading painters of the next generation an ...

(born in 1624) was trained by his father as an engraver.Lucas Vorsterman I
in the

RKD 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 ...

References

External links

Works at WGA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorsterman, Lucas 1595 births 1675 deaths Dutch Golden Age printmakers Painters from Antwerp People from Zaltbommel

Biography

References

Further reading

External links