Johannes van Mildert
Johannes van Mildert or Hans van Mildert (also Joannes van Mildert and Johannes van Milder , nickname den Duyts = the German ; born in early January 1588 , baptized on January 17, 1588 in Königsberg ; died on September 21, 1638 in Antwerp ) was a Flemish Sculptor known for his baroque sculptures which are preserved in many Belgian and Dutch churches.
Life
Johannes van Mildert was the son of the Antwerp painter Anthoon van Mildert (d. 1597), who emigrated to Königsberg in East Prussia. He was probably a student of Willem van den Blocke , another Flemish who settled in Gdansk .
After his father's death he went to Antwerp as early as 1606, where he became a free master in the Guild of St. Luke in 1610 . He probably made a trip to Rome around 1608. It is believed that he was in Paris for a period of time after 1620. However, this information is questioned by others. On February 12, 1612 he married the daughter of a merchant, Elisabeth Waeyens, with whom he had 11 children. He became a citizen of Antwerp in 1628. In Antwerp he became a friend of Peter Paul Rubens , who had a similar background. They were both Flemish born abroad and returning to their hometown. In 1628 he got the citizenship of the city of Antwerp. In 1632 he became a senior man in the Guild of St Luke and when Rubens was elected dean of the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp in 1633, he was allowed to put the daily official business in the hands of van Mildert. In 1633 he became the court sculptor of Archduke Albrecht. From 1634 to 1636 he was dean of the Guild of St. Luke himself.
He got his nickname the Duyts , the German , because he was born and raised in Königsberg. His son Cornelis van Mildert also became a sculptor and draftsman. Cornelis continued his father's workshop. His daughter Elisabeth was married to the sculptor Gerard van Opstal . His son Cornelis and son-in-law completed some of the works that were not finished at the time of his death. The second son was named Peter Paul and was a godchild of Peter Paul Rubens and was a painter. He became Rubens' son-in-law.
plant
In 1617 he made the sculptures in the house of Rubens in the stairwell and portico. He created numerous works such as altars, figures of apostles, funerary monuments and parts for architecture for churches in Antwerp and Flanders, but also portrait busts. In this way he became the main competitor of the workshop of the brothers Hans and Robert Colyns de Nole, who had dominated the Antwerp market since the beginning of the 17th century.
At first he worked in the style of mannerism . The monumental chimney surround made of alabaster , which he made for the wedding hall of Antwerp City Hall in 1618, followed the Mannerist style of Cornelis Floris de Vriendt and is possibly based on a drawing by Floris. Around this time he began to work in the baroque style of his friend Rubens. In 1618 he created an altar in black and white marble for the chapel church in Brussels based on a design by Rubens. This construction (now in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode ) was the first stone altar in the shape of a portico in the southern Netherlands. Rubens also commissioned van Mildert to make the well-known partition wall with arches in Rubens' residence in Antwerp. He also carried out Rubens' design for the Waterport, a gate that was originally part of the Antwerp city wall.
Despite the baroque nature of his architectural work, his figurative works followed the non-dynamic style of the Renaissance . His portrait of St. Gummarus for the baroque altar in St. Gummarus Church in Lier from 1620 has heavy proportions, is unrealistic in the details and static in appearance. However, later works like the marble statue of the Apostle Simon from 1638 in St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen are more vivid and realistic. This also applies to the sculptures he made based on Rubens' designs, such as the figure of Archangel Michael fighting the devil, which was created for the Abbey Church of St. Michael in Antwerp and is now in St. Trudo Church in Zundert is located.
Van Mildert played an important role in developing the forms of Flemish church furnishings. It was in this area of baroque sculpture in the southern Netherlands that he made his most important contributions, although the quality of his figurative representations did not match the quality of his contemporaries Artus Quellinus and François Duquesnoy . Because he was renowned in this field, he was commissioned to design and build the main altar of St. John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch . A drawing and painting of this altar by Pieter Saenredam have survived and parts of the altar are now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam .
literature
- Christian Krollmann, Hans (Johann) van Mildert , in: Christian Krollmann, Kurt Forstreuter, Fritz Gaus (Hrsg.), Altpreußische Biographie , published on behalf of the historical commission for East and West Prussian regional research. Vol. II, Marburg 1967, p. 437.
Web links
- Cynthia Osiecki: Forgotten netherlandish artists in the baltic region Codart Ezine 2 Spring 2013.
Remarks
- ↑ a b c d e Johannes van Mildert. from the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (Dutch)
- ↑ a b c d e f g Old Prussian Biography p. 437
- ↑ a b c d Iris Kockelbergh: Hans van Mildert. In: The Grove Encyclopedia of Northern Renaissance Art. Retrieved December 19, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d General Artists Dictionary, Vol. 89, pp. 448f.
- ↑ Peter Paul Rubens Biography ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Biographical details of Gerard van Opstal from the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (Dutch)
- ^ Master ivory carver: Gerard van Opstal
- ↑ Aanbidding door de Koningen. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)
- ^ De Waterpoort
- ↑ a b Hans van Mildert on 'Thuis in Brabant' (Dutch)
- ^ Peter Paul Rubens, St. Norbert Overcoming Tanchelm, approx. 1622–23. ( Memento from July 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mildert, Johannes van |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mildert, Hans van; Mitigates Joannes van; Milder, Johannes van |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Flemish sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | baptized January 17, 1588 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Koenigsberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 21, 1638 |
| Place of death | Antwerp |