(1597 – Antwerp – 1655)

Maria with Child, Sain Elisabeth and Saint John the Baptist en grisaille

Oil on panel, 33,5 x 26,5 cm

Price: 8.000 €

After working for some time in the workshop op Peter Paul Rubens, Cornelis Schut became a member of the guild of St Luke in 1618. Between 1624 and 1627 he lived in Rome, where he was one of the founding members of the Bentvueghels, a society of Flemish and Dutch artists who worked in Rome. In the early 1630’s he returned to Antwerp. In 1635 he collaborated on the decorations for the royal entry of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in Antwerp and Ghent; the whole project was overseen by his former master Rubens. Schut collaborated on other projects as well, with artists such as Gaspar de Crayer and Theodoor Rombouts. He was commissioned for many altarpieces in churches and monasteries across the Southern Netherlands, but also abroad, such as in Cologne. Stylistically, Schut was influenced by his contemporary Abraham Janssens, as well as by several Italian painters, such as Guercino and Guido Reni. Although he borrowed some motifs from his master Rubens, the latter’s stylistic influence on Schut was limited.

The present painting exists in a number of different versions.^[1] This example concentrates on the intimate scene with Christ, his mother and the Saint. Depicted en grisaille it could have been a preliminary sketch for an engraving.

Literature:

Wilmers, G.: Cornelis Schut. A Flemish painter of the High Baroque, Brepols 1996

[1] Oil on canvas, 150 x 205 cm, Location unknown; Oil on canvas, 167 x 230 cm, Temse, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk; Oil on canvas, 168 x 232 cm, Location unknown; Oil on canvas, measurements unknown, Antwerp, Karl-Borromäus Church.