Wouter Pietersz. Crabeth II (1594 – c. 18 June 1644) was a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and art and ...

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 Wouter Pietersz Crabeth (1510–1590) was a Dutch Renaissance glass painter. He was employed by the Sint Janskerk (Gouda) during the Protestant Reformation, where he created six of the stained glass windows during the years 1555 to 1571. His ...

, 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 tut ...

. 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 ...

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 remembere ...

'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. Si ...

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 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

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'', a function which he continued until his death in 1644. In this role, in 1629, he took part in the Siege 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 ...

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 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 h ...

. 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, Jan Govertsz Verbijl, Jan Verzijl and Aert Van Waes. Crabeth was the most important

artist in the town of Gouda.

Description by Ignatius Walvis

Maria Hemelvaart Wouter Pietersz II Crabeth

Bernardus van Clairvaux bekeert Willem van Aquitanië

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.

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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 t ...

'' (''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 (

, 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. His godmothers ...

, 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