Cornelis Schut
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Cornelis Schut (13 May 1597 – 29 April 1655) was a Flemish painter,
draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...
, engraver and tapestry designer who specialized in religious and mythological scenes. Presumed to have trained under Rubens, he treated
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
subjects in a High-Baroque style. After a stay in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, he worked mainly 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,
where he was one of the leading history painters in the first half of the 17th century.Hans Vlieghe, ''Cornells Schut in Italy''
in Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder, 11 May 2010


Life

Cornelis Schut 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,
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 ...
as the son of Willem Schut and Suzanna Schernilla. There are no records about his artistic training. He is first mentioned as a pupil 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 ...
by the 18th century historian
Jacob Campo Weyerman Jacob Campo Weyerman (9 August 1677 – 9 March 1747) was a painter and writer during the period known as the Dutch Enlightenment. His work encompassed flower and fruit still life paintings, satirical magazines, plays, and biographies of painter ...
. Although the scientific relevance of Weyerman's sources is questioned, it is still assumed that Schut was a pupil of Rubens since Rubens was exempted from registering his pupils with 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 ...
. Because Schut's early works are closer to the style of the leading Antwerp history painter
Abraham Janssens Abraham Janssens I, Abraham Janssen I or Abraham Janssens van Nuyssen (1575–1632) was a Flemish painter, who is known principally for his large religious and mythological works, which show the influence of Caravaggio. He was the leading hist ...
, some connection with the workshop of Abraham Janssens may have existed although it does not prove he was Janssens' pupil. Schut became a master 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 ...
in 1618.Cornelis Schut
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 ...
Schut left for Italy shortly after 1618. While in
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 ...
, he was a founding member 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 artists working in Rome. It became customary for the Bentvueghels to adopt an appealing nickname, the so-called 'bent name'. Schut took the nickname ''Broodzak'' (bread bag). From 13 January 1627 he worked on frescoes in the villa "Casino Pescatore" located 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 ...
, owned by Giorgio Pescatori (aka Pieter de Vischere), a wealthy Italian banker and patron of Flemish descent. He collaborated on this project with the Dutch painter and also Bentvueghels member Tyman Arentsz. Cracht. This commission was instrumental in launching Schut's career in Italy as Pescatori was rich and influential and keen to help his compatriots in Italy. Another important patron in Rome was the aristocratic Italian banker and art collector
Vincenzo Giustiniani Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani (13 September 1564 – 27 December 1637) was an aristocratic Italian banker, art collector and intellectual of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known today largely for the Giustiniani art collection, assembled ...
who commissioned two large religious compositions from him (now in the
Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, Caen The Abbey of Sainte-Trinité (french: Abbaye de la Sainte-Trinité), better known as the Abbaye aux Dames, is a former nunnery in Caen, Normandy, now home to the Regional Council of Normandy. The complex includes the Church of Sainte-Trinité ( ...
). This patronage clearly demonstrated the esteem which Schut enjoyed in Rome. He also attracted the attention of the young
Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...
then residing in Rome in the residence of the Flemish sculptor
François Duquesnoy François Duquesnoy or Frans Duquesnoy (12 January 1597 – 18 July 1643) was a Flanders, Flemish Baroque sculptor who was active in Rome for most of his career. His idealized representations are often contrasted with the more emotional character ...
. Poussin's early works borrowed some motifs from Schut's works made for Vincenzo Giustiniani. Schut's plans in Rome were disrupted when on 16 September 1627 he was imprisoned for the killing of a fellow artist by the name of Giusto. His jail time was short as on 2 October he was already released thanks to the intervention of the
Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...
, the association of artists in Rome. He then left Rome and was reported in 1627-28 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 ...
. He is known to have designed
tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...
for the Arazzeria Medicea, the most important tapestry factory in Italy founded in 1546 in Florence by the
Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
grand duke
Cosimo I Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Life Rise to power Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...
.Hans Vlieghe, "Schut, Cornelis, I" in: Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, access date: 3 December 2013 His movements after this time are unclear. He resurfaced in September 1631 in Antwerp when he appeared before a notary to draw up marital conditions. On 7 October 1631 Cornelis Schut married Catharina Gheenssins, who was from a well-off family. His wife died on 29 September 1637 leaving the artist with three children of whom two died young. The artist remarried the next year with Anastasia Scelliers with whom he had two sons and two daughters.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 757-765 Schut enjoyed artistic success upon his return to Antwerp where he produced mainly altarpieces for the local churches. He painted in the High-Baroque style that had become popular in Flanders by that time. In particular his ability to produce ceiling decorations in the monumental Italian style, with its typical illusionistic character, was regarded highly by patrons in his home country. An example of this is his ''
Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
'' in
Antwerp Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady ( nl, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's see of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been ...
. Schut played a prominent role in the decorative project at the occasion of the Royal Entry of the
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand 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 1635 in both Antwerp (where Rubens was in charge of the overall artistic design) and Ghent. He collaborated with
Gaspard de Crayer Gaspar de Crayer or Jasper de CrayerName variations: Caspar de Crayer and Gaspard de Crayer (18 November 1584 – 27 January 1669) was a Flemish painter known for his many Counter-Reformation altarpieces and portraits. He was a court paint ...
, Nicolas Roose, Jan Stadius and
Theodoor Rombouts Theodoor Rombouts (2 July 1597 – 14 September 1637) was a Flemish painter who is mainly known for his Caravaggesque genre scenes depicting lively dramatic gatherings as well as religiously-themed works.Hans Vlieghe. "Rombouts, Theodoor." Gr ...
on these projects. The Ghent magistrate commissioned Schut to draw and engrave all the decorations that had been made for the Ghent Royal Entry. Schut supplied more than 100 etchings for this commission. In 1643 the headmen of the Antwerp civil militia the Gilde of de Jonge Voetboog wrote out a competition for a new altarpiece for the militia's altar in the Antwerp Cathedral. Schut and
Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613 – 23 January 1654) was a Dutch Republic-born Flemish Baroque painter. Biography Willeboirts Bosschaert was born in Bergen op Zoom, where his Catholic family had moved in the late sixteenth century. He moved ...
were invited to submit for this competition a painting on the subject of the martyrdom of St George. Both works were exhibited and finally a panel of six judges, of which each artist had appointed three, ruled in favour of Schut. Schut died in Antwerp on 29 April 1655 shortly after the death of his second wife. He was buried on 1 May 1655 in the Saint Willibrord Church in Antwerp in a grave shared with his second wife. The grave and its marble
cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
are still present in the church. Schut was the teacher of Ambrosius (II) Gast, Jan Baptist van den Kerckhoven, Philippe Vleughels,
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.
and his cousin Cornelis Schut III.


Works


General

Schut was a versatile artist who produced oil paintings, frescos, engravings, drawings and tapestry cartoons. He was principally a history painter of religious and mythological subjects. His early work shows the influence of
Abraham Janssens Abraham Janssens I, Abraham Janssen I or Abraham Janssens van Nuyssen (1575–1632) was a Flemish painter, who is known principally for his large religious and mythological works, which show the influence of Caravaggio. He was the leading hist ...
. During his Italian sojourn in Rome during 1624 and Florence in 1627 he adopted elements of the High Baroque style of
Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...
,
Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...
and classical tendencies informed by
Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a shoem ...
and
Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...
. This style is characterized among other things by a strong sense of animation and pathos, in which light and color play an important role. Elements of late
mannerism 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, ...
are also evident. Schut's style, which is characterized by strong foreshortening, sharp contrasts of light and extreme facial expressions has some affinity with the work of
Federico Barocci Federico Barocci (also written ''Barozzi'')(c. 1535 in Urbino – 1612 in Urbino) was an Italian Renaissance painter and printmaker. His original name was Federico Fiori, and he was nicknamed Il Baroccio. His work was highly esteemed and inf ...
, who played a major role in the evolution of baroque painting. This is particularly evident in his work in Antwerp starting from c. 1630 (or possibly somewhat earlier) where the style of Barocci is recognizable in the spatial effects, the unstable and emotive poses and the flashing lighting effects. His ''Martyrdom of St George'' painted in 1643 for the competition with Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert is close to Barocci's ''Martyrdom of St Vitalis''. Schut's style hardly changed in his later career, except that his colors became less intense and his brushwork somewhat looser. Other than in some motifs and compositional arrangements, Schut's work displays little stylistic resemblance to that of Rubens. Schut's skill in interpreting the themes of the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
led to many commissions for altarpieces in churches and monasteries in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges and Cologne.


Tapestry designs

Schut created some very inventive designs on mythological and allegorical subjects in his cartoons for the ''Seven Liberal Arts'', a series of tapestries. The series consisted of 8 tapestries, seven dedicated to each of the liberal arts plus one depicting their combined apotheosis. Together, the series can be interpreted as an allegory of war and peace. An example of a tapestry in the series is the '' Allegory of Music'' (
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
). In the centre of the upper border of this tapestry is a cartouche with the inscription: Artes Deprifit bellum agvibus sustinatus ("War oppresses the arts which support it"), also designed by Cornelis Schut. The cartoons were woven repeatedly in Bruges between 1655-1675. They were also woven in the Brussels workshops.


Collaborations

As was common in 17th-century Antwerp, Schut often collaborated with other artists who were specialist painters. He added figures to the compositions of the painter of church interiors
Pieter Neefs the Elder Pieter Neefs the Elder or Pieter Neeffs the Elder (c. 1578 in Antwerp – after 1656 before 1661 in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter who specialized in architectural interiors of churches. Active in Antwerp, he was influenced by the works of the D ...
. Schut collaborated with flower painters such as
Daniel Seghers Daniël Seghers or Daniel Seghers (3 December 1590 – 2 November 1661) was a Flemish Jesuit brother and painter who specialized in flower still lifes. He is particularly well known for his contributions to the genre of flower garland painting.I ...
and Frans Ykens on so-called 'garland paintings'. Garland paintings are a type of still life invented in Antwerp and whose earliest practitioner was
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 ...
. These paintings typically show a flower garland around a devotional image or portrait. Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter. An example of a collaboration between Schut and a flower painter on a garland painting is the composition '' Birth of the red rose'' (
Staatliches Museum Schwerin The Staatliches Museum Schwerin (State Museum Schwerin) is an art gallery and museum in Schwerin in Germany. It was established by Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1882 its historicist Haupthaus as the ''Staatsgalerie'' ...
) in which the figures in the center were painted by Schut and the flower garland was painted by Frans Ykens. His compositions were engraved by leading Antwerp engravers including
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.
,
Wenceslaus Hollar Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is particu ...
and
Lucas Vorsterman Lucas Vorsterman (1595–1675) was a Baroque engraver. He worked with the artists Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, as well as for patrons such as Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel and Charles I of England. Biography Vorsterman wa ...
although he was an accomplished etcher himself. Cornelis made etchings after his own works. For instance, he made a series of etchings on the theme of the liberal arts which are similar to his designs for cartoons on the same subject. He also created many small, decorative etchings of naked children or putti.


Collections

Works by Cornelis Schut are in the collections of the
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen'', ''KMSKA'') is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth t ...
, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and the
Art Museum of Estonia The Art Museum of Estonia ( et, Eesti Kunstimuuseum) was established in 1919. Originally based in Kadriorg Palace, the museum has expanded across several sites and today exhibits both international and local art works. At the end of the 1970s, in t ...
,
Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
.Cornelis Schut
in the
Art Museum of Estonia The Art Museum of Estonia ( et, Eesti Kunstimuuseum) was established in 1919. Originally based in Kadriorg Palace, the museum has expanded across several sites and today exhibits both international and local art works. At the end of the 1970s, in t ...


References


Further reading

*Vlieghe, Hans (1998).
Flemish Art and Architecture, 1585-1700
'. Pelican History of Art. New Haven: Yale University Press. *Hairs M.-L., ''Dans le sillage de Rubens: les peintres d'histoire anversois au XVIIe siècle'', Bibliothèque de la Faculté de philosophie et lettres de l'Université de Liège. Publications exceptionnelles. 4, 1977


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schut, Cornelis Flemish Baroque painters Flemish history painters 1597 births 1655 deaths Painters from Antwerp Members of the Bentvueghels Artists from Antwerp