Christiaen Gillisz. van Couwenbergh

Christiaen van Couwenbergh: The Prodigal Son

Christiaen Gillisz. van Couwenbergh (born July 8 or September 8, 1604 in Delft , † July 4, 1667 in Cologne ) was a Dutch painter .

He was born the son of the engraver and silversmith Gillis van Couwenbergh. He is one of the Dutch Caravaggists . He is influenced by Gerard van Honthorst and Dirk van Baburen. In 1627 Couwenbergh was accepted into the Delft guild. On July 6th, 1630 he married Elisabeth van Dussen , a daughter of the Delft mayor Dirck van Dussen, which speaks for the high social status of the painter. Seven children were born in the following years and are recorded in the Delft baptismal registers. In 1638 Couwenberg received his first verifiable commission from the Orange . He received the unusually high amount of 800 guilders for a Diana who is now missing and was destined for the dining room in Honselaersdijk Castle. Further well-endowed commissions for the court followed in 1642, 1643, 1647 and finally 1651, when he was brought in to decorate the Oranjezaal in Huis ten Bosch in the Hague. Couwenbergh had already moved to The Hague in 1647 , where he was immediately accepted into the guild as a master. Around 1656 Couwenbergh moved to Cologne, where he worked for about eleven years before he died there on July 4, 1667.

It is now considered certain that Jan Vermeer was based on work compositions by Couwenbergh. The main works include Bacchus and Ceres from 1626 (formerly the Landesmuseum Bonn on loan from a private collection in Vienna), Christ in the House of Maria and Martha from 1629 (Museum Nantes), The Finding of the Boy Moses around 1640 (Museum Brussels), Samson from 1630 ( Museum Dordrecht), The cheerful musician from 1642 (private collection) and the counterpart to this painting Woman with a basket of fruit (loan from the Federal Republic of Germany) in the University Museum in Göttingen.

Work catalog

• A- 1 Jezabel is torn apart by the dogs, around 1640, missing
• A- 2 Joseph and Potiphar's wife, 1626, most recently Rudolph Lepke Berlin 1933
• A- 3 Joseph and Potiphar's wife, 1657, at last Brod London
• A- 4 The discovery of the boy Moses, Brussels Museum
• A- 5 The discovery of the Moses boy, most recently new master Munich 1974
• A- 6 Semiramis has her husband killed, missing
• A- 7 Susanna in the bath, 1656 private collection Germany
• A- 8 Samson and Dalia, 1630, Dordrecht town house
• A- 9 Jesus in the house of Mary and Martha, 1629, Museum Nantes
• A-10 The prodigal son with two courtesans in a landscape, most recently Christie, s 1990
• A-11 A man and two elegant women resting outdoors, most recently in Paris 1990
• A-12 St. Elisabeth with a beggar, 1640, Utrecht
• A-13 Bacchus and Ceres, 1626, main work, private collection
• A-14 Bacchus, Venus and Ceres, most recently Sotheby, s MC, 1986
• A-15 Bacchus, Venus, Cupid and Ceres, most recently the Delacre collection
• A-16 Diana with nymphs recovering the prey, 1653, Priv.Slg.Wien
• A-17 Diana with her hunting falcons and companions
• A-18 Diana resting, most recently in the Hurlingham collection
• A-19 Diana and her nymphs, most recently Tajan Paris 1992
• A-20 Ixion tries to embrace the illusion of Juno, 1640, Louvre Paris
• A-21 Pomona, 1642, Göttingen (counterpart to The Happy Musician (A-49))
• A-22 Rinaldo and Armida, 1644, Budapest Museum
• A-23 Venus and Adonis, most recently Christie, s 1990
• A-24 Cloelia escapes across the Tiber, lost
• A-25 Croesus at the stake, 1644, private collection
• A-26 Cimon and Pero, 1634, Leningrad Hermitage
• A-27 Cimon and Pero, 1639, Karlsruhe State Art Collections
• A-28 Allegory of Peace, Leningrad Hermitage
• A-29 Pallas Athene and Hercules open the doors to fame, 1651, Huis ten Bosch
• A-30 Allegory of Caritas, most recently Finarte Rome 1989
• A-31 Allegory of the transience of wealth, whereabouts unknown
• A-32 Allegory of the fertility of the sea, last collection Leonhard 1938
• A-33 Allegory of Taste, private property
• A-34 Allegory of Emotion, private property
• A-35 Allegory of Hearing, private property
• A-36 Allegory of Smell, private property
• A-37 Family group with 11 people, 1642. Cut into pieces
• A-38 family group with new people, Paris Museum Marmottan
• A-39 family group of four, 1642, Antwerp Museum
• A-40 family group with prey, 1644, Museum Tours
• A-41 Catharina Lucia von Kreps, 1658, Cologne Wallraf-Richartz-Museum
• A-42 Herwin von Kreps, 1658, Cologne Wallraf-Richartz-Museum
• A-43 A Merry Drinker, 1627, private collection
• A-44 Funny Journeyman, 1627, private collection
• A-45 Happy Drinker, last in Antwerp in 1935
• A-46 musician with theorbo, private collection
• A-47 Young drinker with a Roman glass, last Frankfurt 1943
• A-48 Herring eater with beer mug, most recently as an art dealer as Honthorst
• A-49 The Happy Musician, 1642, counterpart to No. A-21, private collection
• A-50 Young Whore, Graz Styrian State Museum
• A-51 The horn blowing baker, 1650, Antwerp Museum
• A-52 The Shell Seller, 1654, private property
• A-53 The Herring Eater, 1655, Bonn Rheinisches Landesmuseum
• A-54 Brothel scene with two men and a woman, 1626, private collection
• A-55 Dispute at the Card Game, 1627, private collection
• A-56 brothel scene, private property
• A-57 The Tric-Trac Players, 1630, private collection
• A-58 Cavalier, Courtesan and Matchmaker, 1657, private collection
• A-59 Kitchen scene with maid, hunter and boy, 1659, private collection
• A-60 The Moors Wash (?), 1632, Museum Strasbourg
• A-61 Heralds with spoils, victory signs, coats of arms, 1651, Huis ten Bosch
• N- 1 couple making music, formerly Asenbaum Vienna (previously Maier-Preusker B-24)
• N- 2 group, Düsseldorf (not yet listed in the catalog of works)
• C-8 Bacchus. The lost painting is in a private collection
• C-43 Two young women and a man with a tumbler in hand.

The painting is identical to my work number C-45 and is in a Priv. collection

• B The works listed under B-1 to B-49 in the catalog of works (1991) have been copied except for B-24
• C The works listed under Part C in the 1991 catalog of works are only known from literary sources and can only be assessed after the original has been submitted.

A revision of the 1991 oeuvre catalog is in preparation.

literature

• W. Maier-Preusker: Christiaen van Couwenbergh-Oeuvre and Changes of a Dutch Caravaggist . In: Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, Vol. LII, 1991.
• Johann Jakob Merlo:  Kawenbergh, Christian . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 511 f.

Web links

Commons : Christiaen Gillisz. van Couwenbergh  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files