Dutch Golden Age painting

The Dutch Masters - 4. Anthony Van Dyck

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• published: 29 Jan 2016
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At a very early age Van Dyck skyrocketed into prominence as one of the greatest of all Flemish painters. His father was a well-to-do silk merchant and at the time of his death, when Van Dyck was ten, the boy was sent to be trained by painter Hendrick van Balen in his workshop. By the time he was sixteen Van Dyck already had his own workshop and an apprentice. At nineteen he was accepted as a full member of the Lukas Guild of painters. At the same time he was working with Rubens, the foremost painter of the day, as pupil and assistant. He took part in a number of Rubens' religious works and executed a number of portraits in his own right. Rubens proclaimed Van Dyck as his best pupil though Van Dyck was with Rubens only two years. As accomplished as he was he still fell under Rubens' shadow so, in order to show his independence, he accepted an invitation from the Earl of Arundel to come to London where he stayed for several months. Arundel and others were subjects for a number of portraits he painted while there. He also had the opportunity to study the works of the masters of the Italian Renaissance in the collections of some of the English nobility. He left London in 1621 and, after a brief stop in Antwerp, arrived in Italy. He stayed there six years, mostly in Genoa. He studied and copied the Venetian masters, especially Titian who influenced him greatly. While in Italy he completed a number of portraits of the local aristocracy as well as several church commissions. He returned in triumph to Antwerp in 1627 where he received an astonishing number of commissions from the church and wealthy patrons. He became court painter to the Archduchess Isabella in 1630. He also created a number of engravings of the famous people of the time which were published as a volume in 1628-41. In 1632 he was invited to England to become court painter for King Charles I. He was knighted and lavished with a large annual salary and gifts. Charles was the last of the English monarchs who believed firmly in the divine right of kings. Van Dyck's portraits of Charles were supposed to reinforce his claim to be absolute in his rule. Van Dyck painted 37 pictures of Charles and 35 of his queen, Henrietta Marie, all within a five year period. A huge number of portraits of other nobles were painted during the nine years before his death in 1641. This was only possible because Van Dyck had a large workshop of apprentices who participated in many of these works. The extent to which Van Dyck actually painted them is uncertain, but it can be assumed that the wealthier the patron, the greater Van Dyck's input into the portrait. It is also assumed that Van Dyck flattered his sitters, though not all agreed. When the Countess of Sussex saw her portrait (now lost), she said that her face was so big and fat that it did not please her at all. Some biographers saw in the portraits of Charles a sadness and melancholy that foretold the king's ultimate doom in 1649 under the headsman's axe. Many of his portraits appear hasty as he rushed to satisfy his flood of commissions. They do exhibit, however, much light and luminosity through a thinner application of paint. In 1639 Van Dyck married Mary Ruthven. His only child, a daughter, was born just eight days before Van Dyck died. He established a style or portraiture, especially the ability to show precise physical likenesses with elegance, which was to influence painters for the next two centuries, notably Gainsborough, Reynolds and Lawrence.