Paulus Moreelse
(1571 - 1638) |
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Portraiture, Genre Subjects, Secular Narratives, Mythological Narratives Art Work
| Name: |
Paulus Moreelse |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Utrecht |
| Nationality: |
Dutch |
| Birth: |
1571 |
| Death: |
1638 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Portraiture, Genre Subjects, Secular Narratives, Mythological Narratives |
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| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| Moreelse is included, but not regarded as a major innovator, in surveys of early Dutch portraiture, history paintings, and in the studies of the Utrecht Caravaggisti, yet his gifts enabled him to consistently produce images of considerable originality and quality. Born in Utrecht, he is nevertheless cited as a pupil of Michiel van Miereveld in Delft, probably in the early 1590s. In 1596 he joined the saddlers' guild of Utrecht (to which the painters also belonged). Moreelse must have visited Italy between 1598 and 1602, preceding most of the other Utrecht Caravaggisti in his travels. In June 1602 he was back in Utrecht, where he married. He had a successful career in Amsterdam and Utrecht and took part in establishing the Utrecht St. Luke's Painters' Guild in 1611, becoming its dean (off and on) between 1611 and 1619. He joined the town council in 1618 and in 1627 became an alderman. That year he also received a commission from the city to paint a shepherd and shepherdess to be presented to the Stadtholder Frederick Hendrik and his bride, Amalia van Solms. Moreelse is best known for his traditional portraits in which he followed the lead of his master, Michiel van Miereveld, whom he exceeded in splendor of interpretation. Recent scholarship has commented that Moreelse is probably responsible for the earliest large-scale, full-length portraits painted for Dutch courts and landed gentry - perhaps inspired by the work of Frans Pourbus, who had executed a number of such formal full-length portraits for Italian patrons and who followed the examples of Veronese and Moroni. A good example of this genre is Moreelse's Portrait of Sophia Hedwig, Duchess of Braunschweig Wolfenbuttel (London, Royal Collections, Buckingham Palace), probably done before 1604. Moreelse's later portrait style, in which he developed a fine sense of atmosphere and light, skillfully incorporating minute details within a powerfully wrought overall image, can be seen in his Portrait of a Lady (signed and dated 1627, The Hague, Mauritshuis) and his pendant portraits of Dirck Strick and Henricca Ploos vanAmstel (dated 1625, Allentown Art Museum). Van Dyck has been noted as a source for Moreelse's portraits, particularly in his compositions. Though he is grouped with the Caravaggisti and known as the teacher of Dirck van Baburen, Moreelse responded to the pastoral subject matter but not the dramatic lighting or low-life realism associated with other Utrecht followers of Caravaggio. Moreelse's pastoral subjects inject a Flemish flavor with their sweet delicacy and gentle, appealing vulnerability. Moreelse cast a charming veil over his subjects, thereby anticipating the rococo. His son Johan Moreelse (ca. 1603-34) was also a painter who followed in the Caravaggist traditions. |
Samples of Work
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