Pieter Meulener

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Pieter Meulener (* February 1602 in Antwerp ; † November 27, 1654 there ; also Meulenaer or Molenaer ) was a Flemish battle painter.

Gustav Adolf in the battle of Lützen

life and work

Meulener's exact date of birth is unknown, but the date of his baptism is documented as February 18, 1602. Meulener was a student of Pieter Snayer and dealt exclusively with decorative or narrative battle pictures. The main theme in Meulener's battle painting was - according to his life dates - episodes and scenes of the Thirty Years' War . In his style he followed the compositional style of Pieter Snayers, which he used in his decorative paintings.

The battle of Nördlingen

Like Snayers' battles, he never tried to paint with a panoramic view, that is, in the manner of the topographical-analytical battle picture, but limited himself to describing the battle in its general form. In his painting style, the brushstroke is more calm than known from Snayers. Meulener mostly painted equestrian battles, which at certain points in the picture condense into a heavy equestrian melee. His equestrian fights with his somewhat coarse and wildly moving horses are held in yellow or green tones.

Works (excerpt)

  • The death of Gustav Adolf in the Battle of Lützen . Oil on panel, 49 × 79 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna.
  • Equestrian battle between the Imperial and Swedes in the Thirty Years War . Oil on panel, 37 × 67 cm, Army History Museum Vienna.
  • The battle of Nördlingen . Oil on canvas, 148 × 183 cm, Swedish National Museum , Stockholm .
  • Battle scene , oil on canvas, 63.5 × 116.5 cm, Groninger Museum
  • Cavalry before the battle , oil on panel, 50 × 92 cm, National Museum Warsaw
  • A cavalry battle during the Thirty Years War , oil on panel, 37.6 × 64.3 cm

literature

  • Matthias Pfaffenbichler: The battle picture in the late 16th and 17th centuries. Dissertation University of Vienna, 1987.
  • Ulrich Thieme (ed.): General lexicon of visual artists from antiquity to the present. Leipzig, 1930.
  • Giancarlo Sestieri: Battle Painters. Italian and Foreign Masters of the XVII and XVIII centuries , Rom 1999.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulrich Thieme (ed.), General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present. Leipzig, 1930, 24, 452.
  2. ^ Walter F. Kalina: The Thirty Years' War in the fine arts. Diploma thesis, University of Vienna, 2001, 144f., 153
  3. ^ Matthias Pfaffenbichler, The battle picture in the late 16th and 17th centuries. Dissertation University of Vienna, 1987, 249.
  4. ^ Manfried Rauchsteiner , Manfred Litscher: Das Heeresgeschichtliche Museum in Wien , Verlag Styria , Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-222-12834-0 , p. 13.
  5. ↑ Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck : The Army History Museum Vienna. Hall I - From the beginnings of the standing army to the end of the 17th century , Salzburg 1982 p. 27
  6. ↑ on dorotheum.com , accessed on January 22, 2013

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Meulener, Pieter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meulaner; Molanaer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Flemish painter
DATE OF BIRTH February 1602
PLACE OF BIRTH Antwerp
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1654
Place of death Antwerp