| One of the second rank among Utrecht Caravaggisti, Jan van Bijlert was a pupil of his father, Herman van Bijlert, a glass painter, and Abraham Bloemaert. In 1621 Jan traveled to Italy and he remained there until 1624, picking up the currents of Caravaggism still prevalent in Rome. His earliest paintings, done between 1624 and 1626, show direct borrowings from the Caravaggisti, but his later work abandons the strong contrasts of light and shadow and adopts a lighter palette and a more polished style. Jan painted Caravaggist subject types (particularly half-length figures in bucolic costumes which had their origins with Manfredi*) throughout his career. A number of his shepherdesses express the erotic overtones particularly popular among Utrecht patrons. A significant influence on his later painting is the work of Paulus Moreelse.* In the late 1630s he was among the painters commissioned by Christian IV of Denmark to prepare sketches illustrating the heroic deeds of the king's ancestors. Considered less gifted than Ter Brugghen, Honthorst, or Baburen, Bijlert is nevertheless important. His Canteen Woman (signed, Utrecht, Centraal Museum) shows the quality he could reach and illustrates his contribution to pastoral subject matter, which would have a significant influence on eighteenth-century painting, notably the works of Francois Boucher and Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Bijlert's later works grew smaller and included scenes of merrymakers as well as portraits. The classicizing, polished manner he employed found great favor in his own time. He was quite prolific, though today his paintings are relatively rare. |
