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 Crabeth I, who was a celebrated master glassmaker. Crabeth took an apprenticeship under
Cornelis Ketel
Cornelis is a Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees, Neel and Nelis.
Cornelis (Kees) and Johannes (Jan) used to be the most common given ...
, who was a well known portrait painter in Amsterdam. It is possible that Crabeth was also a student of
Abraham Bloemaert
Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker in etching and engraving. He was initially working in the style of the " Haarlem Mannerists", but in the 16th century altered his style in line with the ...
in Utrecht.
In 1613, Crabeth made his
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
. Such a tour, ending in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, was considered a necessary rite of passage for completing a Flemish artist's classical education, ever since
Karel van Mander
Karel van Mander (I) or Carel van Mander I (May 1548 – 2 September 1606) was a Flemish painter, poet, art historian and art theoretician, who established himself in the Dutch Republic in the latter part of his life. He is mainly remembe ...
's ''Schilderboeck'' was published in 1604. He was in
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 ...
in 1615 and in
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
the following year. Then he travelled to Italy, where he studied the local masterpieces and worked at the various painting schools and workshops. In 1619, while in Rome, he became a member of the
Bentvueghels, with other painters such as
Cornelius van Poelenburgh,
Bartholomeus Breenbergh
Bartholomeus Breenbergh (before 13 November 1598 – after 3 October 1657) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of Italian and Italianate landscapes, in Rome (1619-1630) and Amsterdam (1630-1657).
Biography
Little is known of his early life. In his ...
,
Wybrand de Geest
Wybrand Simonsz. de Geest (16 August 1592 – ) was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter from Friesland.
Biography
Wybrand de Geest was born and died at Leeuwarden. He learned painting from his father, Simon Juckesz, a stained glass worker. He st ...
and
Leonard Bramer. They gave him the nickname "''De Almanack''" (''The Almanac''). Crabeth is represented in an anonymous drawing (see sidebar in top-right) drawn in 1620 and saved 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 a ...
in Rotterdam. Crabeth was then known as ''Wouter van der Gou'' (i.e. Wouter of Gouda); he was often seen together with other members of the Bentvueghels.
In 1626, he returned to Gouda as a ''schutter'' (soldier). In 1628, he married the mayor's daughter, Adriana Gerritsdr Vroesen. The same year, at the time that his own father became mayor, he was named captain of the ''
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 ...
'', a function which he continued until his death in 1644. In this role, in 1629, he took part in the
Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch
The siege of 's-Hertogenbosch also known as the ''siege of Bois-Le-Duc''Markham pp. 435-38 was an action in 1629, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War in which a Dutch and English army captured the city of 's-Hertogenbosch. ...
.
Before that, he received an order from curate Petrus Purmerent for two altarpieces for the Catholic Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste (later the
Old Catholic Church
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...
) and ''Catharinagasthuis'', a religious community. These two paintings are currently held in the
:nl:Museum Gouda (
:nl:Museum Het Catharina Gasthuis) in Gouda and the
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
of Amsterdam. The two works – ''The Assumption of the Virgin Mary'' (''Ten-Hemelopneming van Maria'') and ''Doubting Thomas'' (''Ongelovige Thomas'') – show a strong Italian influence, and are stylistically close to
Caravaggio. In 1631 and 1641, Crabeth painted another two altarpieces for the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, which are also at the Museum Gouda.
As well as altarpieces, Crabeth often painted card players and shepherds, which are very close in spirit to the works of Caravaggio. These tableaux were mostly painted after his return to Gouda. Only a small number of these works remain.
Wouter Crabeth was succeeded by his students
Jan Ariens Duif,
Dirk de Vrije
Dirk de Vrije (1620, Gouda – 1681, Gouda), was a Dutch Golden Age glass painter.
Biography
According to the RKD he was probably related to the glass painter Adriaan Gerritsz de Vrije, who was active in the Janskerk (Gouda). , Jan Govertsz Verbijl,
Jan Verzijl and
Aert Van Waes. Crabeth was the most important
Dutch Golden Age artist in the town of Gouda.
Description by Ignatius Walvis
![Schutterstuk-Wouter-Crabeth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Schutterstuk-Wouter-Crabeth.jpg)
The historian Walvis, of Gouda, wrote in 1713:
One of the main disciples of Ketel, Wouter Crabeth, grandson of the illustrator and glass painter Wouter Pietersz Crabet. This Wouter visited France, Italy, and all the painting schools of Rome, after which, a voyage of 13 years, he returned to Gouda where, in 1628, he married Adriana Vroesen. His most important works are the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, on the altar of the priory of I.W. Ignatius Walvis His last great work of portraiture, the Council of War of Gouda which was then in office, represented by its large size, is hung in the hall of Saint Joris Doelen.
â
Ignatius Walvis
Partial list of works
* ''The Adoration of the Magi'' (''Aanbidding der Koningen''), 1631 (Museum het Catharina Gasthuis Gouda).
* ''Amusement of the shepherds'' (''Herdersvermaak'') (
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Anvers).
* ''The Assumption of the Virgin Mary'' (''Ten-Hemelopneming van Maria''), 1628 (Museum het Catharina Gasthuis, Gouda).
** The Assumption of the Virgin Mary was conceived in 1628 by Crabeth as an altar, which was commissioned by the priest Petrus Purmerent for
schuilkerk
A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition t ...
. Forgotten for more than three centuries, it was rediscovered in 1970 – in the attic of the rectory – by the then director of the Catharina Gasthuis in Gouda, Dr. Jan Schouten. The work is now exhibited in the new museum.
[D’après Xander Van Eck, ''Kunst, twist en devotie'', cfr. Bibliographie.]
* ''The Drinkers'' (attributed; place of conservation unknown, sold on 11 March 1999 by Marc-Arthur Kohn of Paris).
* ''Company of musicians''. (
Szépmüvézeti Muzeum, Budapest).
* ''The Conversion of Guillaume d’Aquitaine by
Bernard de Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...
'' (''Bernardus van Clairvaux bekeert Willem van Aquitanië'', 1641 (Museum het Catharina Gasthuis Gouda).
* ''Couple playing the flute'' (
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Anvers).
* ''The dying warrior'' (''Stervende krijgsman'') (private collection).
* ''The card players'' (
Muzeum Narodowe, Warsaw).
* ''The card players'' (place of conservation unknown, sold at auction 17 January 1992 by Sotheby's in New York).
* ''Harmanus Herberts and his officials'', 1642 (Museum het Catharina Gasthuis Gouda).
* ''La Mise au tombeau'', probably destroyed in 1945 (last seen in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, in Berlin).
* ''Les Noces de Cana'' (''De Bruiloft te Kana''), painted 1640 (Museum het Catharina Gasthuis Gouda).
* ''Doubting Thomas'' (''Ongelovige Thomas''), around 1628 (
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
, Amsterdam – loaned to the Museum Gouda).
* ''Les Tricheurs'' (
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin).
Notes
References
Sources
* J. Schouten, ''Wie waren zij ? Een reeks van Goudse mannen en vrouwen die men niet mag vergeten'', Repro-Holland, Alphen aan den Rijn, 1980.
* Xander Van Eck, ''Kunst, twist en devotie'', Eburon, Delft, 1994
* ''De Gilden in Gouda'', Museum Het Catharina Gasthuis Gouda - Waanders Zwolle, Gouda, 1996,
*
I. Walvis, ''Beschrijving der stad Gouda door I.W.'', 2 dln., Gouda, 1713, éd. fac-similée 1972* Rudie Van Leeuwen, « Portretten op een contrareformatorisch altaarstuk : Wouter Pietersz. Crabeths Ten Hemelopneming van Maria uit 1628 », in ''Desipientia : Zin & Waan'', année 14, nr. 2 (nov. 2007), p. 44-45.
*
Benedict Nicolson
Lionel Benedict Nicolson (6 August 1914 – 22 May 1978) was a British art historian and author.
Nicolson was the elder son of authors Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West and the brother of writer and politician Nigel Nicolson, Nigel. ...
, Burlington Magazine, ''
Caravaggism
The Caravaggisti (or the "Caravagesques") were stylistic followers of the late 16th-century Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound. Caravaggio never establishe ...
in Europe'', 1989.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crabeth2, Wouter
1594 births
1644 deaths
Dutch Golden Age painters
Dutch male painters
People from Gouda, South Holland
Members of the Bentvueghels
Caravaggisti
Catholic painters