Joannes Corvus (
fl. 1512 – 1544), or Johannes Corvus, was a
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; ...
portrait painter who was active in the 16th century.
Biography
Corvus has been identified with Jan Rave, a native of
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The area of the whole city a ...
, received master in that town in 1512, who subsequently came to England, and, like many of his fellow-countrymen, Latinised his name.
George Vertue
George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.
Life
Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...
was the first to discover his existence, finding the inscription ''Joannes Corvus Flandrus faciebat'' on the frame of a portrait of
Bishop Fox, the founder, at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...
, which he engraved for
Richard Fiddes
Richard Fiddes (1671–1725) was an English Anglican priest and historian.
Life
He was born at Hunmanby and educated at Oxford University. He took orders, and obtained the living of Halsham in Holderness in 1696. Owing to ill-health he applied ...
's ''Life of Cardinal Wolsey''. In 1820 this portrait was placed in a new and gorgeous frame, and the old frame was destroyed. Vertue's statement is authenticated by the existence of a portrait of
Mary Tudor, the daughter of
Henry VII, which has a frame and inscription similar to that of Bishop Fox, as described by Vertue. This picture, after being restored extensively, was in the possession of the Des Vœux family, and subsequently in the Dent collection. In this portrait there is a groundwork of gold showing through the colour of the dress, which is painted over it. This suggested that the portrait of Princess Mary Tudor in the National Portrait Gallery (dated 1544) is the work of Corvus, and it might be identified with an entry in the ''Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary'' (edited by
Sir F. Madden). The portrait of
Henry Grey, duke of Suffolk, in the same collection, has for similar reasons been ascribed to Corvus.
Gallery
File:Richard Foxe by Johannes Corvus.jpg, Richard Foxe
File:Bishop Richard Foxe.jpg, Richard Foxe
File:Portrait of Katherine of Aragon.jpg, Catherine of Aragon
File:Mary I by Master John.jpg, Mary I Tudor of England when Princess
File:Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, by Johannes Corvus.jpg, Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk by Johannes Corvus
References
;Attribution
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corvus, Joannes
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
16th-century Flemish painters
Portrait painters
Artists from Bruges