Tyman Arentsz Cracht Family name variations are Craft, Gracht, Crocht, van den Emster, and Kraft. First name variations are Ditmaro, Timaro, Timon, Thyman, and Tijman. alias Botterkul (between 1590 and 1600,

Wormer Wormer is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Wormerland, and lies about 13 km northwest of Amsterdam. The town is situated in the Zaan district, on the eastern side of the river Zaan, across f ...

– 1646

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 ...

) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

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 ...

who specialized in

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 ...

and

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

Life

Nothing is known about his training. He traveled to Rome in 1620 or 1621.Tyman Arentsz. Cracht
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 ...

He was one of the founding members of the

Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which included ...

, an association of mainly Dutch and

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; ...

artists working in Rome. It was customary for the Bentvueghels to adopt an appealing nickname, the so-called 'bent name'. Cracht was given the bent name ‘Botterkull’ or ‘Botterkul’, which may be a reference to the Dutch sweet called ‘Boterbal’ (butter or cream ball).Biographical details
on HadrianusOud Holland
Volumes 84-85, Gebr. Binger, 1969 His portrait appears on one of the sheets with portraits of Bentvueghels, which are now in the

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located at ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. Cracht is depicted with the following members of the Bentveughels: Joost from The Hague,

Cornelis van Poelenburch Cornelis van Poelenburgh or Cornelis van Poelenburch (1594 – 12 August 1667),Cornelis van Poelenburch
...

Wouter Crabeth II Wouter Pietersz. Crabeth II (1594 – c. 18 June 1644) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography Wouter Crabeth was born in Gouda in 1594, the son of the writer and politician Pieter Woutersz. Crabeth. He was named after his grandfather Wouter ...

and Peter from

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

. Cracht himself is referred to in the sheets as 'Tyman (Cracht) van den Emster alias Botterkull'. The expression 'van den Emster' indicates a person from the Dutch province of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

. This is difficult to square with Cracht having been born in Wormer, in the province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

. Cracht did have a brother-in-low who lived in Wormer. Cracht was a close friend of

David de Haen David de Haen (1585, Amsterdam – 1622, Rome), was a Dutch Caravaggesque painter and draughtsman, active in Rome between 1615 and 1622. Biography David was born in Amsterdam and moved to Rome at a young age where he would remain the rest of his ...

, another member of the Bentvueghels. In 1626 Cracht joined the fraternity of the

Collegio Teutonico The Collegio Teutonico (German College), historically often referred to by its Latin name Collegium Germanicum, is one of the Pontifical Colleges of Rome. The German College is the Pontifical College established for future ecclesiastics of German ...

. Along with the painter

Cornelis Schut Cornelis Schut (13 May 1597 – 29 April 1655) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer who specialized in religious and mythological scenes. Presumed to have trained under Rubens, he treated Counter-Reformation s ...

he worked from 13 January 1627 for Giorgio Pescatori (aka Pieter de Vischere), an Italian banker and patron of Flemish origin and painted frescoes in his villa in

Frascati Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with ...

, the so-called 'Casino Pescatore’. Cracht was in Rome until 1631, the year in which he traveled to The Hague, where he became a member of the local

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 ...

. He was head ('Hoofdman') of the Guild from 1634 to 1636 and in 1640. In 1636,

Abraham van Beijeren Abraham Hendriksz van Beijeren or Abraham van BeyerenAlso known as 'Abraham van Bergaren (c. 1620, The Hague – March 1690, Overschie (Rotterdam)) was a Dutch Baroque painter of still lifes. Little recognized in his day and initially active as ...

was Cracht's pupil in The Hague. Cracht worked in 1638 at

Huis Honselaarsdijk Huis Honselaarsdijk is a former palace and country residence of the Dutch Stadtholders and princes of Orange which lies about 2.6 km (2 mi) southwest of the border of The Hague, the Netherlands. It was one of the finest examples of Baroque archit ...

for

stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry ( nl, Frederik Hendrik; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1625 until his death in 1647. In the last ...

. In 1642, he was enrolled as a member of the militia ('

Schutterij Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...

') of the Hague. On May 9, 1646, his estate was auctioned off in The Hague.

Work

Cracht was known for his landscapes and history paintings but he also painted portraits. He was influenced by

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cracht, Tyman Arentsz. 1590s births 1646 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Dutch expatriates in Italy Members of the Bentvueghels People from Wormerland