Tobias Verhaecht (1561–1631) was a

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 ...

from

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,

in the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

who primarily painted

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

. His style was indebted to the

mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

world landscape The world landscape, a translation of the German ''Weltlandschaft'', is a type of composition in Western painting showing an imaginary panoramic landscape seen from an elevated viewpoint that includes mountains and lowlands, water, and buildings. ...

developed by artists like

Joachim Patinir Joachim Patinir, also called Patenier (c. 1480 – 5 October 1524), was a Flemish Renaissance painter of history and landscape subjects. He was Flemish, from the area of modern Wallonia, but worked in Antwerp, then the centre of the art market ...

and

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...

. He was the first teacher of

Pieter 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 ...

.Christine van Mulders. "Haecht, Willem van, II." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 29 July 2014

Life

Tobias Verhaecht 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 Cornelis van Haecht. His father must also have been an artist as Verhaecht was admitted to 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 ...

as the son of a master.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 384-389 Verhaecht-paisaje alpino-prado

It is not recorded with whom he studied. Before 1590 he travelled to Italy and first worked in Florence where

Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco I (25 March 1541 – 19 October 1587) was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 until his death in 1587. He was a member of the House of Medici. Biography Born in Florence, Francesco was the son of Cosimo I de' Medic ...

was his patron. He then moved on to Rome where he was active as a painter of landscape

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s.Hans Devisscher. "Verhaecht, Tobias." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 29 July 2014 He returned to Antwerp where he became a master of the

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 Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...

in 1590–91. Not long after he married Suzanna van Mockenborch, who was the granddaughter 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 ...

' stepfather Jan de Landmetere, and a cousin of his mother. The couple had two sons Cornelis and Willem and one daughter Suzanna. His wife died in 1595 after the birth of their daughter. This happened during a difficult financial period for Verhaecht when he had also been appointed deacon of the Guild. Tobias Verhaecht - Landscape with Venus and Adonis

Tobias Verhaecht - Landscape with Venus and Adonis

The year following the death of his first wife, he married Esther Pamphi, whose sister Maria married the battle painter

Sebastiaen Vrancx Sebastiaen Vrancx, Sebastiaan Vrancx or Sebastian Vranckx (; 22 January 1573 – 19 May 1647) was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman and designer of prints who is mainly known for his battle scenes, a genre that he pioneered in Netherlandish ...

. The couple had one more son and daughter. His second wife died in 1612. Verhaecht suffered more family drama with the death of his first-born Cornelis in 1614 and of his daughter Suzanna in 1623. Verhaecht was a member of the

Violieren The Violieren (wallflower or gillyflower) was a chamber of rhetoric that dates back to the 15th century in Antwerp, when it was a social drama society with close links to the Guild of Saint Luke.A. A. Keersmaekers, ''Geschiedenis van de Antwerpse R ...

, a local

Chamber of rhetoric Chambers of rhetoric ( nl, rederijkerskamers) were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly inte ...

connected to the Antwerp Guild of St Luke for which he wrote a comedy in 1620. He was the first teacher of Rubens who studied with him around 1592 for about two years but left because his interest was history painting and not landscape. His other pupils included his son

Willem van Haecht Willem van Haecht (1593 – 12 July 1637) was a Flemish painter best known for his pictures of art galleries and collections. Life Willem van Haecht was born in Antwerp as the son of the landscape painter Tobias Verhaecht. Tobias Verhaecht wa ...

Jacques Backereel Jacques Backereel Jacques Backereel
at the Marten Ryckaert Marten Ryckaert or Maerten Ryckaert (baptised 8 December 1587, Antwerp – 11 October 1631), was a Flemish landscape painter. He was known for his small, usually imaginary landscapes in an Italianate style. Life Marten Ryckaert was a member of t ...

, Geeraert van Beemel, Adriaen Daep, Leonhard Cemp, Cornelis Bol, Pieter van den Hoeck and Abraham Matthys.Tobias Verhaecht
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 ...

The artist died in Antwerp in 1631.

Work

Tobias Verhaecht - Mountainous river landscape with travelers

Tobias Verhaecht specialized in landscapes and also produced several versions of the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

. His landscapes followed the traditional style of the world landscape, which had first been developed in the first half of the 16th century by

and had reached its peak with

. The landscapes depict imaginary mountains characterized by rocky peaks seen from a high viewpoint and typically including a religious or mythological scene. These landscapes often include villages and figures dwarfed by their surroundings rendered in meticulous detail.Tobias Verhaecht, ''Mountainous river landscape with travelers''
at Sotheby's Mountainous Landscape with Travelers on a Road MET DP801545

Mountainous Landscape with Travelers on a Road MET DP801545

His work closely resembles in style the set of 12 large prints published by

Hieronymus Cock Hieronymus Cock, or Hieronymus Wellens de Cock (1518 – 3 October 1570) was a Flemish painter and etcher as well as a publisher and distributor of prints.

after designs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, which are referred to by art historians as the ''Large Landscapes''. The earliest works of Verhaecht are clearly conservative in style. The steep and bizarre rock formations and the strange atmosphere are indebted to

, who was already dead for three-quarters of a century when Verhaecht started to create these works. Verhaecht shows in these works that the evolution of landscape painting during the second half of the sixteenth century had largely passed him by. In the 1620s and 1630s he painted panoramic landscapes with a high horizon and using the traditional three-color plan. He was thus still working in the fantastic landscape tradition at a time when

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 ...

was painting casual village landscapes, and his former pupil Rubens had realized some beautiful atmospheric landscapes.Hans Devisscher, ''Het landschap''
Vlaanderen. Jaargang 56 (2007), p. 230-234 Verhaecht's landscapes were not entirely oblivious of the work of

Josse de Momper Joos de Momper the Younger or Joost de Momper the Younger (1564February5, 1635) was a Flemish landscape painter active in Antwerp between the late 16th century and the early 17th century. Brueghel's influence is clearly evident in many of de Momp ...

and

Gillis van Coninxloo Gillis van Coninxloo (now also referred to as Gillis van Coninxloo II but previously referred to as Gillis van Coninxloo III) (24 January 1544 – January 1607) was a Flemish painter of landscapes who played an important role in the development ...

who were evolving towards a more close-up and realist approach and he adopted some of the elements of the new approach. He collaborated with other local painters such as

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 ...

Sebastian Vrancx Sebastiaen Vrancx, Sebastiaan Vrancx or Sebastian Vranckx (; 22 January 1573 – 19 May 1647) was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman and designer of prints who is mainly known for his battle scenes, a genre that he pioneered in Netherlandish ...

and

Gillis Coignet Gillis Coignet, Congnet or Quiniet (c. 1542 – 1599) was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter, who was strongly influenced by the Italian style. He painted historical and mythological subjects of an easel size, ...

who painted the figures in his paintings. Some of Verhaecht's landscapes were made into prints.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verhaecht, Tobias Artists from Antwerp 1561 births 1631 deaths Flemish Renaissance painters Flemish landscape painters Painters from Antwerp