Antoon van den Heuvel - Christ and the Adulterous Woman

Antoon van den Heuvel, Antoine van den Heuvel or Anton van den Heuvel (nickname: 'don Antonio')Antoine van den Heuvel
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 ...

Edmond De Busscher, ''Recherches sur les peintres et sculpteurs à Gand, aux XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles'', E. De Busscher et fils, 1866, p. 68 (c. 1600 – 5 August 1677) was a Flemish

history painter 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 ...

and draughtsman. After training and working in Antwerp and Rome, he returned to his native

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

where he was one of the important creators of altarpieces for the churches in the region.

Life

Little is known about his early life and training. He was born in

. In the declaration he made when he was admitted 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 Ghent in 1628, he stated that in the previous 10 years he had been working in Antwerp 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 ...

.Hans Vlieghe. "Heuvel, Antoon van den." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 13 October 2014 He was given the nickname 'don Antonio' because of his stay in Italy. Antoon van den Heuvel remained active for the rest of his life in Ghent and its neighbouring areas where he was particularly in demand for altarpieces. In 1662 he was responsible for the cleaning of the

Ghent Altarpiece The ''Adoration of the Mystic Lamb'', also called the ''Ghent Altarpiece'' ( nl, De aanbidding van het Lam Gods), is a large and complex 15th-century polyptych altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. It was begun around the mid-1420 ...

painted by the van Eyck brothers. He died in Ghent.

Work

Antoon van den Heuvel painted mainly religious scenes and portraits. He is usually regarded as a representative of the international Caravaggesque movement. His ''Lamentation'' in the Church of Borsbeke relies upon a painting by the Dutch Carravagist Gerard van Honthorst of the same subject for its composition and a number of motifs. Antoon van den Heuvel - The Resurrection of Christ

Antoon van den Heuvel - The Resurrection of Christ

His style is, however, not that easily reduced to the Caravaggesque movement. His early work showed a preference for contrasting colours and strong lighting, with little use of transitional tones. But compared to his contemporary

Jan Janssens Jan JanssensJan Janssens
at the

Nazareth, Belgium Nazareth () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of and Nazareth proper. In 2021, Nazareth had a total population of 11,844. The total area is 35.19 km² which gives a popu ...

, he adopted one of the motifs of Caravaggio: 'The Madonna with the snake' (Rome,

Galleria Borghese The Galleria Borghese () is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate touris ...

). Van den Heuvel's style is in its linear compositions and bright lighting more

Classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

in nature and closer to the work of Agostino Carracci, Annibale Carracci and

Lodovico Carracci Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci (21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early- Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light ...

and their followers. He must have seen their work during his residence in Rome. Antoon van den Heuvel - Adoration of the shepherds

Van den Heuvel also borrowed motifs and compositions of contemporary Flemish painters such as Rubens and Caspar de Crayer. His later work between 1640 and 1650 is less colourful and therefore appears less expressive. Van den Heuvel also made designs for engravings. The paintings (some of them after designs by Rubens) that he (and other painters) made on the occasion of the

Joyous Entry A Joyous Entry ( nl, Blijde Intrede, Blijde Inkomst, or ; ) is the official name used for the ceremonial royal entry, the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a city, mainly in the Duchy of Braban ...

Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand (also known as Don Fernando de Austria, Cardenal-Infante Fernando de España and as Ferdinand von Österreich; May 1609 or 1610 – 9 November 1641) was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Catholic ...

in Ghent in 1635 were engraved to be included in a publication authored by Willem van der Beke (Guilielmus Becanus). The publication entitled ''Serenissimi principis Ferdinandi Hispaniarum infantis S.R.E. cardinalis triumphalis introitus in Flandriae metropolim Gandavum'' was published by Johannes Meursius in Antwerp in 1636. Leading Antwerp engravers

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 ...

Pieter de Jode II Pieter de Jode II or Pieter de Jode the Younger (1606–1674) was a Flemish Baroque printmaker, draughtsman, painter and art dealer. A scion of an important dynasty of printmakers active in Antwerp, he created many prints after the works of lead ...

and Antony van der Does made the engravings for the publication. A portrait painting made by van den Heuvel was used by the prominent engraver

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 ...

as the basis for his engraving of a portrait of the Flemish poet Jeremias Pierssene. Guillaume Duvivier, an engraver who was active in Ghent in the 17th century, made an engraving after a painting of Antoon van den Heuvel which shows two servant women in a kitchen. This

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 ...

subject is atypical for van den Heuvel who mainly painted religious scenes and portraits.The Flemish kitchen
at the Rijksmuseum

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heuvel, Antoon van den Flemish Baroque painters Flemish history painters Artists from Ghent 1600s births 1677 deaths