Dirck van Baburen
Encyclopedia
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Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
associated with the Utrecht Caravaggisti
Utrecht School
Utrecht Caravaggism refers to those Baroque artists, all distinctly influenced by the art of Caravaggio, who were active mostly in the Dutch city of Utrecht during the early part of the seventeenth century....
.
Biography
Dirck van Baburen was probably born in Wijk bij DuurstedeWijk bij Duurstede
- The city of Wijk bij Duurstede :The city is located on the Rhine. At Wijk bij Duurstede, the Kromme Rijn branches off, and the main branch is called Lek River downstream from Wijk bij Duurstede....
, but his family moved to Utrecht when he was still young. He was also known as Teodoer van Baburen and Theodor Baburen. The earliest reference to the artist is in the 1611 records of Utrecht's
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
Guild of St. Luke as a pupil of Paulus Moreelse
Paulus Moreelse
Paulus Moreelse was a Dutch painter, mainly of portraits.-Life:Moreelse was born and died in Utrecht. He was a pupil of the Delft portrait painter Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, who had himself been a pupil of Anthonie van Blocklandt. He took a study-trip to Italy, where he received many portrait...
. Sometime between 1612 and 1615 he travelled to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. There, he collaborated with fellow countryman David de Haen and befriended the close follower of Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
, Bartolomeo Manfredi
Bartolomeo Manfredi
Bartolomeo Manfredi was an Italian painter, a leading member of the Caravaggisti of the early 17th century.Manfredi was born in Ostiano, near Cremona...
. Baburen also came to the attention of the art collectors and patrons Vincenzo Giustiniani
Vincenzo Giustiniani
thumb|upright|Vincenzo Giustiniani in a portrait by [[Nicolas Régnier]] Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani was an aristocratic Italian banker, art collector and intellectual of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known today largely for the Giustiniani art collection, assembled at Palazzo...
and cardinal Scipione Borghese
Scipione Borghese
Scipione Borghese was an Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini...
, and possibly under their influence he received the commission to paint the altarpiece of the Entombment for the chapel of the Pietà in San Pietro in Montorio
San Pietro in Montorio
San Pietro in Montorio is a church in Rome, Italy, which includes in its courtyard The Tempietto built by Donato Bramante.-History:...
around 1617. Baburen was one of the earliest artists to belong to the group of Dutch-speaking artists active in Rome in the seventeenth-century known as the "Bentvueghels
Bentvueghels
The Bentvueghels were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent .-Activities:...
" ("Birds of a Feather"); his nickname was "Biervlieg" ("Beer Fly", or one who drinks a lot).
In late 1620 Baburen returned to Utrecht, where he began painting genre scenes. Until his death in 1624, the painter, along with Hendrick ter Brugghen
Hendrick ter Brugghen
Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen was a Dutch painter, and a leading member of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio — the so-called Dutch Caravaggisti.- Biography :...
and Gerard van Honthorst
Gerard van Honthorst
Gerard van Honthorst , also known as Gerrit van Honthorst and in Italy as Gherardo delle Notti for his nighttime candlelit subjects, was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht.-Biography:...
, helped establish the stylistic and thematic innovations now known as the Utrecht School of Caravaggisti. He was buried on February 28, 1624, in the Buurkerk, a medieval church which now houses the Museum Van Speelklok tot Pierement
Museum Van Speelklok tot Pierement
thumb|Replica of a 1598 musical clock by Nicholas Vallin, that plays its music on 13 bellsMuseum Speelklok is a museum in Utrecht, The Netherlands. It has a collection of automatically playing musical instruments, most of which still work and therefore still can play their music...
. Around 1629, Constantijn Huygens
Constantijn Huygens
Constantijn Huygens , was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Christiaan Huygens.-Biography:...
noted Baburen as one of the important Dutch painters active in the early decades of the seventeenth century.
Career
Dirck van Baburen's career was short, and only a few of his paintings are known today. He mostly painted religious subjects in Rome, including the San Pietro in Montorio Entombment that is indebted to CaravaggioCaravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
's version
The Entombment of Christ (Caravaggio)
The Entombment of Christ is a painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It was painted for Santa Maria in Vallicella, a church built for the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, and adjacent to the buildings of the order...
of the same subject in the Vatican Museums
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...
. Baburen also painted a Capture of Christ (Borghese Gallery) for Scipione Borghese and Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) for Vincenzo Giustiniani.
The Utrecht works made between 1621 as 1624, the final years of Baburen's career, merged the visual characteristics learnt from Caravaggio and Manfredi into genre, mythological and history painting
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
. Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan (Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or simply Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
), for example, adapts Caravaggio's upside-down figure of St. Paul from the Conversion of St. Paul (Santa Maria del Popolo
Santa Maria del Popolo
Santa Maria del Popolo is an Augustinian church located in Rome, Italy.It stands to the north side of the Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The Piazza is situated between the ancient Porta Flaminia and the park of the Pincio...
, Rome) for the position of the fallen Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
, who was punished for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortals.
He was among the first artists to popularize genre subjects such as musicians and cardplayers. One of his best-known works is The Procuress (Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, Boston). It depicts a man offering a coin for the services of a lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
-playing prostitute while an old woman, the lady's procuress, inspects his money. This painting (or a copy) was owned by Johannes Vermeer's
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...
mother-in-law and appears in two of that artist's works, The Concert (stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
, Boston) and Woman Seated at a Virginal (National Gallery
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
). Han van Meegren forged a copy of this work which he may have intended to use as a prop in his forgeries of Vermeer.
Works
He painted several musicians, many of which probably contain a self-portrait, as they all seem to feature the same man.- The Entombment, ca. 1617, (San Pietro in Montorio, Rome)
- Capture of Christ, before 1621 (Borghese Gallery, Rome)
- Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles, before 1621 (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin)
- Uriah's Death in Battle, before 1621 (private collection)
- Youth Playing a Small Whistle 1621 (Centraal Museum, Utrecht)
- The Procuress, 1622 (Boston Museum of Fine Arts)
- Christ among the Doctors, 1622 (National Gallery of NorwayNational Gallery of NorwayThe National Gallery of Norway is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.-History:...
, OsloOsloOslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
) - Backgammon Players, c. 1622 (Residenzgalerie, BambergBambergBamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
) - Loose Company, 1623 (Gemäldegalerie, MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
) - Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan, 1623 (see above)
- Crowning with Thorns, 1623 (Museum CatharijneconventMuseum CatharijneconventThe Museum Catharijneconvent is a national museum of religious art in Utrecht. It is located in the former Catharijneconvent, having been sited there since 1979. Its collections include those of the museum of religious art of the Catholic Archbishopric of Utrecht, located in the convent until...
, Utrecht) - Crowning with Thorns, 1623 (Nelson-Atkins Museum of ArtNelson-Atkins Museum of ArtThe Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....
, Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
) - Cimon and Pero (Roman Charity), ca. 1623 (York City Art Gallery)
- Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene, ca. 1623 (KunsthalleKunsthalleKunsthalle is, generally, in German speaking regions a term for a facility mounting temporary art exhibitions. Some are run or supported by a local Kunstverein, an art association of local collectors and artists...
, HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
)
Sources
- Dirck van Baburen in History of Art
- Brigstocke, Hugh, "Baburen, Dirck (Jaspersz.) van," Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, March 15, 2007.
- Brown, Christopher, "The Utrecht Caravaggisti," in Gods, Saints & Heroes: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1980, pp. 101-121. ISBN 0-89-468039-0.
- Franits, Wayne, Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting (2004). ISBN 0-300-10237-2.
- Levine, David A., "Schildersbent [Bent]," Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, [March 15, 2007].
- Murray, P. & L., Dictionary of art and artists. Penguin Books (1996). ISBN 0-14-051300-0
- Nicolson, B., Caravaggism in Europe (2nd edn., 1990). ISBN 8-84-220233-9.
- Slatkes, L. J., Dirck van Baburen: A Dutch Painter in Utrecht and Rome (1965).
- Slive, Seymour, Dutch Painting 1600-1800 (1995) ISBN 0-300-06418-7.