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116-614: Theatrum Pictorium , or Theatre of Painting , is a short-hand name of a book published in the 1660s by David Teniers the Younger for his employer, the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria . It catalogs 243 Italian paintings in the Archduke's collection of over 1300 paintings. The paintings are reproduced by engravings made by various engravers after reduced-size copies (modelli) created by Teniers. David Teniers' brother Abraham Teniers

232-502: A Commander in the Spanish Army , Greer said that Wautier displayed "swiftness and accuracy" indicating extensive professional practice. More re-attributions and recognitions of her works and exhibitions that included her paintings made her legacy to more of the art-going public. The greater interest in her work culminated in her first retrospective in 2018. From June to September 2018, the first complete retrospective on Michaelina Wautier

348-669: A backdrop to his outdoor peasant scenes. In his landscapes he paid particular attention to the variegated light of the Flemish countryside in different weather conditions. In his River landscape with rainbow he included thin, dark clouds, with streaking sun rays piercing through rain and a rainbow in the left background. Along with Rubens, Teniers was among the first Flemish 17th-century artists to include rainbows in his compositions, not for their religious or allegorical meaning, but rather as another means by which to showcase his careful study of nature. Other examples of this include other works from

464-818: A big banquet in the Schilderskamer of the Guild of St. Luke. When in 1674 the existence of the academy was threatened, he again used his influence at the Spanish court to save the institution. As a court painter, Teniers was not required to become member of a local guild. Nevertheless, he became a member of the Brussels Guild of Saint Luke in 1675. In his later years, Teniers was also active as an art dealer and he organised art auctions. This brought him into conflict with his fellow artists who started proceedings to prohibit him from holding an auction in 1683. Teniers argued that he needed

580-756: A close associate and favorite of the English King and was, like the King, executed in 1649. The Conde de Fuensaldaña, then acting as Leopold Wilhelm's lieutenant in the Southern Netherlands, also sent Teniers to England in 1651 to purchase paintings at the Pembroke and presumably other sales. The collection of the Archduke grew to incorporate about 1,300 works, mainly of leading Italian artists such as Raphael, Giorgione, Veronese and Titian (15 works by this artist alone) as well as of famous Northern artists such as Hans Holbein

696-472: A collection for the art gallery which included his own work and that of other artists, which he selected. He was involved in the purchase of a large number of Italian, and especially Venetian, masterpieces from the confiscated collections of Charles I of England and his Jacobite supporters. One of his most important successes was the acquisition of the major part (about 400 paintings) of the collection owned by James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton , who had been

812-409: A collection. An example is A picture gallery with two men examining a seal and a red chalk drawing, and a monkey present (At Sotheby's New York, 24 January 2002, lot 169). These gallery paintings are heavy with symbolism and allegory and are a reflection of the intellectual preoccupations of the age, including the cultivation of personal virtue and the importance of connoisseurship. They accentuate

928-404: A combination of fantasy and reality. The Arcadian spirit was conveyed through stock motifs such as cattle and sheep, bridges and classical ruins on a hill as well as through the general tonality and style of these works. Teniers's interest in pastoral paintings has been linked to his ambition to be elevated to the nobility. Agriculture and animal husbandry were regarded as proper occupations of

1044-730: A commission from the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain to create a series of mythological paintings to decorate the Torre de la Parada , a hunting lodge of the king near Madrid . The mythological scenes depicted in the series were largely based on the Metamorphoses of Ovid . Rubens realized this important commission with the assistance of a large number of Antwerp painters such as Jacob Jordaens , Cornelis de Vos , Jan Cossiers , Peter Snayers , Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert , Theodoor van Thulden , Jan Boeckhorst , Peeter Symons , Jacob Peter Gowy and others, who worked after Rubens' modellos . Teniers

1160-524: A criticism of the role of 'fools in high places'. Teniers evidently identified close with the singerie genre in this early period of his career as two monkey scenes – the Guardroom with monkeys and the Festival of monkeys – are reproduced in his self-portrait of 1635, known as The Artist in his studio (private collection, a workshop copy was sold at Sotheby's New York sale of 27 May 2004 as lot 16). The artist

1276-403: A few of the chateaux and estates he represented in these paintings are of known estates. It is believed that they are imaginary creations intended to present a generic view of what a country estate should look like: large, stately and dominating the countryside around it. These paintings often include depictions of the tenant farmers who pay deference to their masters. They thus give expression to

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1392-555: A fictitious space rather than the actual location of the Archduke's collection in his Brussels palace. The paintings shown in them, however, are known to have formed part of the Archducal collection. Teniers's paintings of the Archduke's collection fall into a genre referred to as 'gallery paintings' or 'pictures of collections'. Gallery paintings typically depict large rooms in which many paintings and other precious items are displayed in elegant surroundings. Antwerp artists Jan Brueghel

1508-453: A fur hat with plume. This self-portrait within this picture may have been intended as a tronie , which often depicted a stock character in an exotic costume. Teniers combined the genres of singerie and guardroom scene in the composition Guardroom with monkeys (Private collection). At a first glance, the Guardroom with Monkeys is no different from other guardroom scenes. It is clear from

1624-536: A large dowry. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters. His second wife's attitude to Teniers's children from his first marriage would later divide the family in legal battles. Teniers petitioned the king of Spain to be admitted to the aristocracy but gave up when the condition imposed was that he should give up painting for money. In 1660, Teniers's Theatrum Pictorium was published in Brussels. When Don Juan of Austria ended his term as Governor General of

1740-617: A local militia in Antwerp, commissioned a group portrait in 1643 ( Hermitage Museum ). Teniers was a dean of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1644–1645. When Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria became the Governor General of the Southern Netherlands in 1647, the Archduke soon became an important patron of Teniers. The success went to the artist's head. He claimed that his grandfather Julian Taisnier, who had moved from Ath (now located in

1856-510: A luminous, silvery atmosphere, in which the peasants sit at their ease, conversing or playing cards. These paintings show a radical move towards a more positive attitude towards country life and the peasantry than was reflected in his earlier satirical pieces influenced by Brouwer. Teniers's later works such as his Flemish kermesse (1652, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium , Brussels) breathe an idyllic Arcadian spirit. The peasant characters have lost their ungainly appearance and people from

1972-443: A man examining a urine flask for the purpose of medical diagnosis while an anxious peasant woman is looking on. Teniers also depicted physicians performing various operations such as foot and back operations. Teniers is not generally known as a still life painter. Nevertheless, many of his interiors include elaborate still lifes, some of them painted by specialist still life painters, others painted by Teniers himself. The subject of

2088-431: A more painterly and looser style. Teniers's scenes with peasants were so well known that compositions with this subject came to be called 'tenierkens' ('small teniers') and tapestries with peasant scenes were referred to as 'Teniers tapestries'. Teniers did not design any Teniers tapestries himself. Only a few of these tapestries can be directly linked to works by Teniers. Teniers tapestries were particularly popular from

2204-402: A playful metaphor for all the folly in the world. In 16th century visual and literary sources, the image of the monkey was typically used to symbolise the unreasonable and foolish aspect of human nature. It is this quality that Teniers refers to in his Allegory of Vanitas (1633, private collection) in which he included a chained monkey in fool's clothes who is looking through a telescope from

2320-492: A portrait of Jan Anton van der Baren (the third man from the right) who later followed the Archduke upon his return to Vienna where he took over Teniers's role as director and cataloger of the Archduke's collection. It is likely that these gallery paintings of the Archduke's collection were painted to memorialize and eulogize it and anyone associated with it. The gallery painting with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Peftord House

2436-497: A series of portraits . She was distinguished from other painters by the diversity of her subjects and formats. Her first self-portrait , painted in 1649 , was long mistakenly associated with the Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi . It remains one of Wautier's most famous paintings. The painting is included in the 1905 book Women Painters of the World . It was not until 1672 that

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2552-448: A story, when presented with a peasant scene by Teniers the French king asked for the 'magots' (baboons) to be removed from his sight as soon as possible. Teniers bought a house close to the Brussels court and was promoted in 1655 to 'camerdiender' or 'ayuda de cámara' (chamberlain) by the Archduke. It was most unusual for a painter to serve as chamberlain at the Spanish court. In fact, there

2668-400: A tent set up on what is likely a town square with a landscape in the distance. Food and wine are in abundant supply. On the tent is pinned an image of an owl with spectacles. The owl recalls the Flemish proverb 'wat baten kaars en bril als de uil niet zien en lezen wil' ('what good are candle and spectacles if the owl does not want to see and read'). The Festival of monkeys can be regarded as

2784-453: Is based on scholarly conjecture and analysis of her available works. Michaelina Wautier painted in small formats as well as more ambitious canvases with as main subjects history, religion and mythology . At the time, large format paintings were still considered a preserve of male painters. Wautier multiplied representations of genre scenes, historical paintings, as well as more detailed representations of flower garlands. Her works also include

2900-565: Is believed to be fictional. Teniers strove in these paintings to arrive at a visual survey of the collection. Some of the paintings show the Archduke visiting the collection accompanied by courtiers and other art collectors. Teniers included in some a portrait of himself apparently in the act of providing his patron some explanation on a particular work of art in the collection. In the Archduke Leopold Willem in his gallery at Brussels (c. 1650, Kunsthistorisches Museum) Teniers included

3016-516: Is devoid of the symbols of self-deception and consequent misery that Breughel had associated with alchemy, such as empty purses or tearful families. Teniers's new way of depicting alchemists was followed by contemporary artists such as Thomas Wijck , Frans van Mieris the Elder , Jacob Toorenvliet and Cornelis Bega . While alchemists were mainly concerned with transmutation of base metals into more noble ones, their endeavors were wider and also involved

3132-581: Is particularly known for developing the peasant genre, the tavern scene , pictures of collections and scenes with alchemists and physicians. He was court painter and the curator of the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm , the art-loving Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands . He created a printed catalogue of the collections of the Archduke. He was the founder of the Antwerp Academy, where young artists were trained to draw and sculpt in

3248-409: Is shown sitting in front of an easel holding his brush and palette. In an exceptions combination of the genre of artist studio and gallery painting, some young connoisseurs are visiting the artist's studio and are examining some of his works. Teniers painted several guardroom scenes or corps de garde such as The Sentinel (1642). A guardroom scene is a type of genre scene that became popular in

3364-552: The Old Age in Search of Youth attributed by Teniers to Correggio and the Adam and Eve after Padovanino are the most important records of these lost paintings. The Theatrum Pictorium had an important impact on the manner in which collections were organised, appreciated and published and continued to be used as a reference book during the 18th century. Teniers contributed to the spread of

3480-553: The Temptation of St Anthony and hermit saints in grottoes or deserts. Teniers's early works show the influence of Elsheimer . This influence was transmitted to him through his father, who had studied under Elsheimer in Rome and is regarded as a follower of Elsheimer. Elsheimer was mainly known for his small cabinet paintings characterised by their innovative treatment of landscape and light effects. Another major influence on David Teniers

3596-532: The Theatrum pictorium shows a bust portrait of the Archduke with a dedication to the Archduke as well as introductions in Latin, French, Spanish and Dutch. The title page clarifies that Teniers funded the publication project out of his own pocket. The Theatrum pictorium was published in four languages (Latin, French, Dutch, and Spanish) and further editions appeared in 1673 and 1688 and in the 18th century. The last edition

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3712-490: The Walloon province of Hainaut ) to Antwerp in the 16th century had been from a family that had been entitled to bear a coat of arms. Teniers started to use this coat of arms consisting of a croaching bear on a field of gold encircled by three green acorns. His brother-in-law Jan Baptist Borrekens reported him and Teniers was prohibited from using the coat of arms. Around 1650, Teniers moved to Brussels to formally enter into

3828-453: The 1640s Teniers created the second imagery of the alchemist. Teniers portrayed the alchemist as a learned and humble scientist diligently pursuing his research in his laboratory crowded with instruments. In the laboratory one or two assistants typically assist the alchemist with the performance of an experiment. Teniers's Alchemist (between circa 1640 and circa 1650, Mauritshuis ) is an example of one of his alchemist laboratory scenes, which

3944-507: The 1960s with the sudden appearance of her floral still life Garland with a Butterfly in an exhibition, which later disappeared in 1985, along with her official recognition as the rightful creator of The Triumph of Bacchus in 1967. Writer, intellectual, and feminist Germaine Greer gave Wautier greater notability in The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work (1979). Commenting on her work Portrait of

4060-481: The Archduke returned to Vienna before the project was completed. As a result, ultimately only a series of 246 plates was produced, of which 243 depicted about half of the Italian paintings then owned by the Archduke). Teniers made a list of the painters in the collection as part of the forward to his 1673 catalog: Of all the painters, Michaelina Wautier (who was not an Italian painter) and Madonna Fitta de Milano are

4176-521: The Elder and Frans Francken the Younger were the first to create paintings of art and curiosity collections in the 1620s. The genre was further developed by Hieronymus Francken the Younger , Willem van Haecht and Hendrik Staben . The genre became immediately popular in Antwerp where many artists practised it in Teniers's time: they included artists such as Jan Brueghel the Younger, Cornelis de Baellieur , Hans Jordaens , Gonzales Coques , Jan van Kessel

4292-401: The Elder and Hieronymus Janssens . Later practitioners included Teniers's presumed pupil Gillis van Tilborgh as well as Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg , Jacob de Formentrou and Balthasar van den Bossche . Teniers played an important role in the development of the genre of gallery paintings and his mid-17th-century gallery paintings of the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm are among

4408-438: The Elder, became the principal practitioner of the genre and developed it further with his younger brother Abraham Teniers . The two brothers were able to cater to the prevailing taste in the art market and were thus instrumental in spreading the genre outside Flanders. Later in the 17th century Nicolaes van Verendael started to paint these 'monkey scenes' as well. Teniers painted singeries in two distinctive periods. During

4524-477: The King that his collection in Brussels could emulate the King's collection in Madrid. As in the 17th century the power of a prince was no longer judged solely based on his military success, but even more so on his taste in, and appreciation of, art, the Archduke thus wanted to show that he could hold his own against the King. Teniers also painted a few gallery paintings showing artists at work or cognoscenti inspecting

4640-473: The Middle Ages its validity had come under attack by more modern-minded physicians in the 17th century. The practice of uroscopy and the questions surrounding its use by medical practitioners were the impetus for genre paintings on the theme of the 'piskijker' ('pee examiner'). They typically showed the inspection by a physician or a quack of a flask of urine provided by a young woman. If the inspection revealed

4756-528: The Southern Netherlands in January 1659, Teniers appears to have withdrawn from active court duty. He purchased from the husband of Hélène Fourment , the widow of Rubens, a country estate called the 'Drij Toren' ('Three towers') located in Perk , in the environs of Brussels and Vilvoorde. Teniers did not cut his links with Antwerp while living and working in Brussels. Teniers maintained close contacts with artists as well as

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4872-838: The Younger , Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Jan van Eyck . The collection became the foundation and nucleus of the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The Archduke also promoted Teniers's art by giving his compositions to other European rulers as presents. As a result, many of these rulers also became patrons of the artist. The bishop of Ghent Anthonius Triest , the Stadtholder Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange , Christina, Queen of Sweden , William II, Prince of Orange and Philip IV of Spain were among his patrons. Only king Louis XIV of France does not seem to have liked Teniers's work. According to

4988-547: The Younger's early work was the work of the Flemish painter Adriaen Brouwer . Adriaen Brouwer was working in Antwerp from the mid-1620s to the mid-1630s after an extended residence in Haarlem . He was an important innovator of genre painting through his vivid depictions of peasants, soldiers and other 'lower class' individuals, whom he showed engaged in drinking, smoking, card or dice playing, fighting, music making etc. usually in taverns or rustic settings. Brouwer also contributed to

5104-472: The advanced age of 85, during which she was not producing paintings or staying in the public eye. Further, unlike some of her female contemporaries, including the Italians Gentileschi and Elisabetta Sirani , her self-portrait was never issued as a print to perpetuate her memory. In fact, eventually that self-portrait itself was later attributed to Gentileschi. After Wautier's death in 1689, her legacy

5220-406: The age of 39, however, her talent evidently did not long go unnoticed. Possibly as a result of her brother Charles’ contacts in the army as he had previously been an officer she was commissioned to do a portrait of the aristocratic general Andrea Cantelmo. That painting has since disappeared, but its existence is known through an engraving of it done by Paulus Pontius . Charles was also a painter, and

5336-460: The artist. He was extremely versatile and tried his hand at all the genres then practised in Flanders including history , genre , landscape , portrait and still life . Teniers is particularly known for developing the peasant genre, the tavern scene and scenes with alchemists and physicians. He also painted many religious scenes among which stand out his many compositions treating the subjects of

5452-410: The artistic tradition of Pieter Bruegel the Elder . These prints were widely disseminated and the theme was then picked up by other Flemish artists. The first one to do so was the Antwerp artist Frans Francken the Younger , who was quickly followed by Jan Brueghel the Elder , the Younger and Sebastiaen Vrancx . David Teniers the Younger, following in the footsteps of his father-in-law Jan Brueghel

5568-474: The bloated military in the Southern Netherlands in the 1630s. The theme of physicians and alchemists was popular in 17th century Flemish and Dutch genre painting. Teniers was the principal contributor to this genre and its iconography in Flanders. The view of the public towards practitioners of either craft was ambivalent. Physicians and alchemists were regarded either as quacks or charlatans using deception to seek material gain or as persons seriously committed to

5684-411: The catalog by engravers who worked after the modelli, not the originals, was started by 1656. In the 17th century there existed no efficient method for inverting images. As a result, most of the prints in the catalog are reverse images of the originals. Each print gives the name of the author of the original work on the left hand side (indicated by the letter 'p' for 'pinxit', Latin for 'painted by') and

5800-409: The catalog by engravers who worked after the modelli, not the originals, was started by 1656. In the 17th century there existed no efficient method for inverting images. As a result, most of the prints in the catalog are reverse images of the originals. Each print gives the name of the author of the original work on the left hand side (indicated by the letter 'p' for 'pinxit', Latin for 'painted by') and

5916-472: The center of the composition and included a portrait of his family, servants and tenant farmers at the harvest. He paid homage to Rubens by including Rubens' nearby estate called Het Steen in the far distance. He depicted himself in the picture as a country gentleman , who through his graceful bearing and costly clothing sets himself apart from the servants and toiling peasants in the picture. Teniers also made many paintings of other chateaux and estates. Only

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6032-535: The collection in Brussels died in 1651. The collection included works by Hans Holbein the Elder , Pieter Bruegel the Elder , Jan van Eyck , Raphael , Giorgione , Paolo Veronese and more than 15 works by Titian . Before moving back to Vienna in 1656, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm kept his art collection in his palace in Brussels . Teniers depicted the galleries in which the collection was displayed in various compositions which are now spread across various collections. At

6148-499: The colourful crowd; she is the only character to look at the viewer. Further, the large scale of the painting was notable for a female artist of the time for, as McCouat says, "women were patronisingly regarded as not being capable of such large-scale complex works". Unlike many other women painters of this period, Wautier received recognition while alive. In particular, she sold four paintings to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria for his painting gallery. The paintings are mentioned in

6264-465: The development of the genre of tronies , i.e. head or facial studies, which investigate varieties of expression. Teniers's early work up to the end of the thirties was very close to that of Brouwer in terms of subject matter, technique, color and composition. He took from Brouwer the gross types, placed in the characteristic smoky, dimly lit taverns. He also treated these subjects with the same monochrome tonality as Brouwer. The personal style of Teniers

6380-449: The end of his governorship in 1656, the Archduke and his collection relocated to the Stallburg . This archducal collection now forms the heart of Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum . During his tenure as keeper of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's collection, Teniers undertook the preparation and publication of the first ever illustrated catalog of old master paintings. His brother Abraham Teniers

6496-462: The engraver of the print on the right hand side (indicated by the letter 's' for 'sculpsit', Latin for 'engraved by'). Some editions also indicated the original dimensions of the paintings. Teniers's modelli and the Theatrum pictorium serve as a record for some important paintings the whereabouts of which are currently unknown. For instance, the modelli in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of

6612-407: The engraver of the print on the right hand side (indicated by the letter 's' for 'sculpsit', Latin for 'engraved by'). Some editions also indicated the original dimensions of the paintings. The publication comprised 243 engravings of important Italian paintings in the art collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. While the project was initially planned to include the entire collection of the Archduke,

6728-435: The entire collection of the Archduke, the Archduke returned to Vienna before the project was completed. As a result, ultimately only a series of 246 plates was produced, of which 243 depicted about half of the Italian paintings then owned by the Archduke). In the preparation of this project, Teniers first painted reduced modelli after the original works on panels of roughly 17 by 25 in dimensions. These were then engraved on

6844-615: The family. In 1632–33, he was registered as 'wijnmeester' (i.e. the son of a master) in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke . A David Teniers is recorded in the Antwerp records as having been issued in 1635 a passport to visit Paris. The artist likely also travelled to England as on 29 December 1635 of the same year he signed in Dover a contract with the Antwerp art dealer Chrisostomos van Immerseel, then resident in England. Rubens received in 1636

6960-409: The first period in the early 1630s he was still working in Antwerp. He returned to the subject in the 1660s when he was working in Brussels as the court painter of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. In the early period Teniers's singeries typically depicted monkeys as soldiers. From this period dates his Festival of monkeys (1633, private collection). Monkey soldiers are shown enjoying themselves in front of

7076-714: The genre in the mid 17th century by moving away from the depiction of cabinets of curiosities to depicting art galleries, and in particular the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. In the final, 'late' phase of the genre from c. 1660 to 1690, artists such as Teniers's pupil Gillis van Tilborgh went further in removing non-art objects from the gallery and introduced figures in the gallery setting who claimed elite status by virtue of their knowledge of (and, as in some cases artists are present, ability to produce) art. Teniers first depicted Archduke Leopold Wilhelm with his collection in two pictures dated 1651 (one in Petworth House and

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7192-560: The genre of the 'monkey scene', also called 'singerie' (which in French means a 'comical grimace, behaviour or trick' and is derived from 'singe', the French word for monkey). Comical scenes with monkeys appearing in human attire and a human environment are a pictorial genre that was initiated in Flemish painting in the 16th century and was subsequently further developed in the 17th century. Monkeys were regarded as shameless and impish creatures and excellent imitators of human behaviour. These depictions of monkeys enacting various human roles were

7308-526: The guardroom and all its trappings such as armor, colorful flags and banners, saddles, drums and pistols gave Teniers ample opportunity to showcase his capabilities as a still life painter. This can be seen in the Guardroom with the Deliverance of Saint Peter (c. 1645–47, Metropolitan Museum of Art ). Michaelina Wautier Wautier was noted for the variety of subjects and genres that she worked in. This

7424-457: The higher social classes are now mixed in with the common people. The artist's new status as court painter of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm from 1651 may have contributed to this 'gentrification' of his work. This type of rural scene became very popular. In many of Teniers's late paintings, the excitement of his earlier peasant feasts is gradually replaced by tranquil scenes populated with only a few human figures. In this later period Teniers also adopted

7540-451: The hope of reviving Flemish art after its decline following the death of the leading Flemish artists Rubens and Anthony van Dyck in the early 1640s. He influenced the next generation of Northern genre painters as well as French Rococo painters such as Antoine Watteau . David Teniers the Younger was born in Antwerp as the son of David Teniers the Elder and Dymphna de Wilde. His father

7656-408: The image of a fetus this was proof that the woman was pregnant. It is assumed that the genre was started by Adriaen Brouwer and that a now lost work of Brouwer inspired Teniers and Gerard ter Borch to paint works in this genre. An example of Teniers's contribution to the genre is the composition Village doctor looking at a urine sample (1640s, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium ), which shows

7772-451: The inclusion of a monkey among the art lovers. During his tenure as keeper of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's collection, Teniers undertook the preparation and publication of the first ever illustrated catalog of old master paintings. His brother Abraham Teniers was involved in organizing the publication of the work. The first official publication of the work in bound book format was published by Hendrick Aertssens in Brussels in 1660 (although

7888-556: The influential art dealers in Antwerp. In particular; the firm of Matthijs Musson was instrumental in building Teniers's international reputation. At the behest of his Antwerp colleagues of the Guild of Saint Luke, Teniers became the driving force behind the foundation of the academy in Antwerp, only the second of such type of institution in Europe after the one in Paris. The artist used his connections and sent his son David to Madrid to assist in

8004-431: The inventory of the collection drawn up in 1659. However, her work fell into oblivion after her death. Some art historians link this absence to the attribution of her paintings to Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert , Jacob van Oost or her brother Charles Wautier. Additionally, art scholar Katlijne van der Stighelen notes that there was a long period between her last painting (believed to be in 1659) and her death in 1689, at

8120-566: The large, undated canvas in the Kunsthistorisches Museum likely followed the equally large painting dated 1651 in Petworth House. The others are all independently composed and display different works or when the same works are included they are hung in a different order. Although Teniers's gallery paintings depict pictures known to have been part of the Archduke's collection, the precise arrangements in which he depicted those pictures

8236-447: The largest group in any public collection. These were then engraved on the same scale by a pool of 12 engravers. The principal engravers were: Jan van Troyen , Lucas Vorsterman II , Pieter van Lisebetten , Coryn Boel , Theodor van Kessel . Other engravers included Jan van Ossenbeeck , Franciscus van der Steen , Nikolaus van Hoy , Remoldus Eynhoudt , Coenraad Lauwers , Dominicus Claessens and Jan Popels. Teniers used full colour in

8352-415: The last third of the 17th century and well into the 18th century. The Teniers tapestries were woven by many Brussels weavers and also in other centers such as Lille, Oudenaarde, Beauvais and Madrid. In the early 1640s Teniers began to paint more landscape paintings and in these he developed his own pictorial language. He started to focus on the Flemish countryside as a subject in itself rather than solely as

8468-416: The manner in which collections were organised, appreciated and published and continued to be used as a reference book during the 18th century. The works listed in the Theatrum pictorium that survive are generally in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, while the modelli or small models for the engravings have been lost or are in other collections. The engravings and the modelli were inscribed with the dimensions of

8584-413: The mid-1640s and are painted on copper. The subject of the guardroom and its contents such as armor, colorful flags and banners, saddles, drums, pistols allowed Teniers to showcase his brilliance as a still life painter. Teniers also used the subject to demonstrate his ability to use light to achieve a perfect representation of the quality of painted objects. The armour depicted in the guardroom pictures

8700-455: The mid-1640s such as The Reaping (Hermitage Museum). Teniers depicted real as well as imaginary landscapes. Although he did not intend these works to be topographically accurate, he spent a lot of time sketching in the countryside. This explains why certain motifs recur in his landscape oeuvre. In the 1660s Teniers started to paint pastoral scenes. It is likely that the increased prominence of rural life and nature in his work of that period

8816-601: The mid-17th century, particularly in the Dutch Republic . In Flanders Teniers was one of the principal practitioners of the genre together with his brother Abraham, Anton Goubau , Cornelis Mahu and Jan Baptist Tijssens the Younger . A guardroom scene typically depicts an interior scene with officers and soldiers engaged in merrymaking. Guardroom scenes often included mercenaries and prostitutes dividing booty, harassing captives or indulging in other forms of reprehensible activities. Many of Tenier's guardroom interiors date to

8932-430: The modelli, rather than grisaille . This could mean that he intended these reproductions to function as independent records of some of these Italian paintings in the Archduke's collection. From the many modelli, which have been preserved, it is obvious that Teniers's copies constitute a true record of the originals even while he left out details and painted them in his typical fluid and transparent manner. The engraving of

9048-581: The most famous examples of the genre. The earliest works in this genre depicted art objects together with other items such as scientific instruments or peculiar natural specimens. These paintings expressed the Early Modern culture of curiosity, in which art works and scientific instruments were mixed together in so-called cabinets of curiosities . The persons populating the galleries in these early works are 'virtuosi' who appear as keen to discuss scientific instruments as to admire an artwork. Teniers transformed

9164-538: The negotiation to successfully obtain the required licence from the Spanish King. This involved Teniers's son presenting a very expensive golden watch to one of the courtiers who could influence the Spanish King's decision on the matter. As soon as he received the royal charter creating the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts , Teniers travelled with it from Brussels to Antwerp and celebrated the accomplishment with

9280-492: The nobility. An estate in the countryside was therefore a necessary part of the status of nobles of that time. Teniers had himself acquired the country estate Drij Toren in Perk near Rubens' country estate Het Steen . Teniers painted his own country estate several times. In the View of Drij Toren at Perk, with David Teniers' family (c. 1660, Boughton House ) Teniers placed his estate in

9396-451: The notion that the powers of discernment associated with connoisseurship are socially superior to or more desirable than other forms of knowing. Teniers also created an allegorical or satirical interpretation of a gallery painting in the drawing Monkeys' Masquerade: The Painter’s Studio, an Artist Seated ( British Museum ). The drawing is clearly a pun on the popular 'art as the ape of nature' present in many pictures of collections through

9512-504: The only women whose work is documented in the Archduke's collection. Teniers's modelli and the Theatrum pictorium serve as a record for some important paintings the whereabouts of which are currently unknown. For instance, the modelli in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of the Old Age in Search of Youth attributed by Teniers to Correggio and the Adam and Eve after Padovanino are the most important records of these lost paintings. The Theatrum Pictorium had an important impact on

9628-527: The original paintings, though their characteristics were often adjusted to take advantage of the maximum illustration possibilities of the album page size. The dimensions were in the form "4 alta 3 lata", which means 4 palm-widths high and 3 palm-widths wide, such as the case with the engraving after Bassano's Boy with a Flute : David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690)

9744-463: The other in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium ). The only other dated gallery painting by Teniers is dated 1653. The fact that the other gallery paintings of Teniers are not dated has made it difficult to establish a chronology and evolution of his work in this genre. Two of the ten known gallery paintings with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm have similar compositions and include the same paintings:

9860-528: The painter Elisabeth-Sophie Chéron produced what is considered the first female self-portrait in France. The painting named The Triumph of Bacchus (1650, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna ) is often cited as one of the most representative of her works. She was familiar with masculine anatomy and painted it without shame, becoming one of the first female painters to expose a naked man. The artist depicted herself in

9976-473: The prevalent worldview of the ruling class of his day, of which Teniers aspired to be a part, which was that the good and humble peasant would always show reverence to his noble lord. Teniers painted 10 paintings representing the collection of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels. Of these only three are dated. Nine are painted on canvas and one on copper . The paintings are believed to depict

10092-413: The proceeds of the auction because his children were suing him for their mother's part of her estate. The matter was finally settled between the parties themselves. In his final years, he lost his second wife and was involved in further lawsuits over her estate with the two surviving children of his second wife. There is evidence that in these years he suffered a decline in his prosperity and that his output

10208-432: The process sacrificed the well-being of their families. In his famous drawing of an alchemist dated to 1558 ( Kupferstichkabinett Berlin ) Pieter Brueghel the Elder depicted the alchemist as recklessly extravagant and wasteful in the use of resources. This drawing set the standard for the imagery of alchemists that was adopted by 17th century artists such as Jan Steen , David Rijckaert III and Adriaen van Ostade . In

10324-430: The publication project out of his own pocket. The Theatrum pictorium was published in four languages (Latin, French, Dutch, and Spanish) and further editions appeared in 1673 and 1688 and in the 18th century. The last edition was published in 1755. The publication comprised 246 engravings of important Italian paintings in the art collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. While the project was initially planned to include

10440-461: The pursuit of knowledge. The ambivalence of this attitude was reflected in the artistic representations of physicians and alchemists. The first approach was to satirise the alchemist and turn him into a symbol of human folly. The artists would stress that the alchemist's research into creating gold from base metals was solely driven by a sinful pursuit of personal gain. Symbolism was used to show that alchemists were wasting precious time and money, and in

10556-451: The room by two monkeys who restrain it. The contrast between the properly dressed cat and the bizarre outfit of the monkey soldiers, one of which is wearing a funnel on his head while another has an upturned pot on his head, raises doubt as to the legitimacy of the monkeys' authority. As was customary in singeries, the dress and behaviour of the monkeys highlight the foolishness of human undertakings. Teniers may also have intended to criticize

10672-408: The round moon above the door that the scene is set late at night. The off-duty monkeys have removed their armor, stowed their pikes and rolled up their company flag and placed it against the far wall. Like their human counterparts, the monkey soldiers are loitering about, some of them are drinking and smoking, others are playing games. At the door a cat wearing respectable civilian clothes is led into

10788-501: The same scale by a pool of 12 engravers. Teniers used full colour in the modelli, rather than grisaille . This could mean that he intended these reproductions to function as independent records of some of these Italian paintings in the Archduke's collection. From the many modelli, which have been preserved, it is obvious that Teniers's copies constitute a true record of the originals even while he left out details and painted them in his typical fluid and transparent manner. The engraving of

10904-414: The service of the Archduke as a "pintor de cámara" (court painter). The Archduke asked him to be the keeper of the art gallery he had set up in his palace in Brussels. In that position he succeeded the Antwerp painter Jan van den Hoecke who had earlier worked in Vienna for the Archduke. One of Teniers's key tasks in this position was to look after and enlarge the Archducal collection. Teniers put together

11020-465: The title page states the date as 1658). The title page of the book refers to it as 'Hoc Amphiteatrum Picturarum' ('This amphitheatre of pictures'). The publication is now often referred to as Theatrum pictorium ('Theatre of Paintings'). The cover of the Theatrum pictorium contained a bust portrait of the Archduke with a dedication to the Archduke as well as introductions in Latin, French, Spanish and Dutch. The title page clarifies that Teniers funded

11136-504: The two moved to Brussels in 1645, where they both remained unmarried and shared a studio. After arriving in Brussels, they settled in a mansion near the Chapel Church . Both Michaelina and Charles seemed to have been active in business, particularly in real estate. Both also were almost certainly well-trained in art, but it is not known where or with whom. Little else is known about Wautier's life, and much of her biographical information

11252-402: The use of their techniques to diagnose or cure people (the so-called 'iatrochemistry', which aimed to provide chemical solutions to diseases and medical ailments). There was therefore an overlap with the role of physicians. One of the popular methods of medical diagnosis was the so-called 'uroscopy', the analysis of the urine of a patient. Whereas this was considered a valid diagnostic method in

11368-589: The wrong end. In addition, monkeys were associated with the Antichrist and the Devil and regarded as the opposite of god. In Dürer's print Madonna with a monkey the Virgin , who represents holiness, is contrasted with the monkey chained at her feet who symbolizes evil. The Flemish engraver Pieter van der Borcht introduced the singerie as an independent theme around 1575 in a series of prints, which were strongly embedded in

11484-427: The younger studied under his father. A collaborator of his father early on in his career, the father and son pair created together a series of twelve panels recounting stories from Torquato Tasso 's epic Gerusalemme Liberata ( Museo del Prado, Madrid ). His father was frequently in financial straits and his debts landed him occasionally in jail. David the younger had to make copies of old masters in order to support

11600-423: Was a Flemish Baroque painter , printmaker , draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator . He was an extremely versatile artist known for his prolific output. He was an innovator in a wide range of genres such as history painting , genre painting , landscape painting , portrait and still life . He is now best remembered as the leading Flemish genre painter of his day. Teniers

11716-401: Was a painter of altarpieces and small-scale cabinet paintings . David was baptised at St. James' Church on 15 December 1610. Three of his brothers also became painters: Juliaan III (1616–1679), Theodoor (1619–1697) and Abraham (1629–1670). The work of his two oldest brothers is virtually unknown. The work of his youngest brother Abraham was very close to David's own. From 1626, David

11832-452: Was able to cement a close relationship with Rubens who had been a good friend and frequent collaborator with his wife's father. This is borne out by the fact that at the baptism of the first of the couple's seven children David Teniers III , Rubens' second wife, Hélène Fourment , was the godmother. Around this time Teniers started to gain a reputation as an artist and he received many commissions. The Guild of St George (Oude Voetboog Guild),

11948-586: Was already out of date at the time it was painted since metal armours, breast plates and helmets fell out of use from the 1620s. It is possible that in line with the moralizing intent of the genre, the armour is a reference to the vanitas motif of the transience of power and fame. In one of his guardroom interiors referred to as A guardroom with a self-portrait of the artist (At Sotheby's London sale of 7 July 2010, lot 12) Teniers included his own portrait at about 36 years of age. The artist has dossed himself out as an officer wearing an exotic fur-trimmed coat and

12064-408: Was also invited to participate in this project and make a picture after Rubens' design. That painting is considered lost. Teniers married into the famous Brueghel artist family when Anna Brueghel, daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder , became his wife on 22 July 1637. Rubens, who had been the guardian of Anna Brueghel after her father's death, was a witness at the wedding. Through his marriage Teniers

12180-458: Was connected to his 1662 purchase of Drij Toren, a country house in Perk in which he maintained a studio. In contrast to the sophisticated compositions he painted as a court painter, the landscapes he painted at Perk stand out by their simplicity. They expressed an Arcadian view of life in the countryside and eulogized the advantages of a peaceful existence on the land. He presented the rural life as happy and carefree. The landscapes themselves were

12296-426: Was diminished. On 25 April 1690, David Teniers died in Brussels. His pupils included his son David, Ferdinand Apshoven the Younger, Thomas van Apshoven , Jan de Froey, Aert Maes, Abraham Teniers, and Aert van Waes. Gillis van Tilborgh is also presumed to have studied under Teniers. Teniers was known as a hard worker who was extremely prolific. About two thousand paintings are thought to have been painted by

12412-400: Was involved in organizing the publication of the work. A second edition with page numbers was published in 1673. During the years 1646-1656 when he was stationed in Brussels as governor of the Habsburg Netherlands , Archduke Leopold Wilhelm assembled one of the greatest art collections of his age. Teniers effectively became its curator after Jan van den Hoecke , a court painter and curator of

12528-442: Was involved in organizing the publication of the work. The first official publication of the work in bound book format was published by Hendrick Aertssens in Brussels in 1660 (although the title page states the date as 1658). The title page of the book refers to it as 'Hoc Amphiteatrum Picturarum' ('This amphitheatre of pictures'). The publication is now often referred to as Theatrum pictorium ('Theatre of Paintings'). The cover of

12644-484: Was made on copper. This was unusual for a picture of such a large size and was presumably done so that the Archduke could send it as a present to Philip IV of Spain. By sending this work to Philip IV, the Archduke may have intended to pay homage to his uncle as a prominent connoisseur of Italian painting known for his large collection at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid . His secondary intention may have been to demonstrate to

12760-492: Was only one other case, which dates from the same time: that of Velázquez, whose aim was also to be elevated to the nobility. Not long after the Archduke resigned from his position as Governor General of the Spanish Netherlands and returned to Vienna with his large art collection. A Flemish priest, who was also a gifted still life painter, Jan Anton van der Baren , moved with Leopold Wilhelm from Brussels to Vienna where he

12876-424: Was published in 1755. In the preparation of this project, Teniers first painted reduced modelli after the original works on panels of roughly 17 by 25 cm in dimensions. Of these modelli, 120 were auctioned off as part of the estate of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough in 1886. The modelli are now spread among various collections. The Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery holds 14 of these works,

12992-460: Was quickly lost due to the various reasons: mis-attribution, confusion with other noted female artists of the period, and inability to differentiate her work from that of her brother Charles. Two centuries later, starting in the 1850s, recognition of her work began to pick up again. However, any mention of her was usually limited to a characterization of her as a "skilled portraitist" with few attributed works. Her reputation enjoyed an uptick starting in

13108-489: Was so taken by Teniers that he even drew a portrait of Teniers son. Teniers's wife died on 11 May 1656. On 21 October of the same year, the artist remarried. His second wife was Isabella de Fren, the 32-year-old daughter of Andries de Fren, secretary of the Council of Brabant . It has been suggested that Teniers's main motive for marrying the 'spinster' was her rather elevated position in society. His second wife also brought him

13224-473: Was the successor of Teniers as the director of the archducal gallery in Vienna. The new Governor General of the Spanish Netherlands, Don Juan of Austria continued the support for the artist that he had enjoyed from his predecessor the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. The early Flemish biographer Cornelis de Bie reports in his Het Gulden Cabinet published in 1662 that Don Juan was an amateur artist who regularly asked Teniers to give him instructions in art. Don Juan

13340-489: Was unusual for female artists of the time who were more often restricted to smaller paintings, generally portraits or still-lifes. Born in 1604 in Mons , Belgium , Michaelina Wautier was the only daughter in a family of nine children. Scholars assume that she came from a high-class family, as her work shows an in-depth knowledge of classical mythology and symbolism. She appears to have begun her artistic career later in life, around

13456-400: Was visible from the outset. An important distinction was that unlike Brouwer who placed these genre scenes mainly indoors, Teniers gradually moved his scenes into the open air and started to give the landscape a major place in his work from the 1640s. This was a common development in Flemish painting at the time. The smoky and monochrome tonality of the interiors from the 1630s was replaced by

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