Top 10 Interesting Facts about Werner van den Valckert

Werner van den Valckert – A Man Cutting Tobacco .Author Web Gallery of Art. WIKIMEDIA

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Werner van den Valckert

Werner Van Den Valckert was in 1585 in Amsterdam. He was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver.

He was a member of the Guild of St.Luke in the Hague between 1600-1605. Though he was born Amsterdam. However, he moved to Amsterdam in 1614 because his daughter was baptized there.

The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in Early modern Europe. Especially in the low countries.

Amsterdam was the first city to reissue a St. Luke’s charter after the reformation in 1579. It included painters, sculptors, engravers, and other trades dealing specifically in the visual arts.

Werner Van Den Valckert earliest dated etchings are from 1612. He also made a prestigious schutterstuk, which features the Amsterdam burgermeester Albert Burgh.

Werner was a student of Hendrik Goltzius.His surviving paintings are historical allegories and portraits.

His paintings were amazing. Werner painted a series of 4 paintings showing a doctor as angel,Christ, a man and the devil. These paintings were all based on engravings by Goltzius.

The paintings are well preserved in Boerhaave Museum, which has other similar series on display.

 He also made a series of 4 paintings about relief for the poor . They are well preserved in the possession of the Amsterdam Historical Museum.

Let’s learn the top 10 interesting facts about Werner van den Valckert

1. He Started hi Career in The Hague in 1605

Man With a Ring 1617 by Werner van den Valckert . Author www.rijksmuseum.nl. WIKIMEDIA

He worked as a painter, etcher, woodcutter, draughtsman and writer. It is believed that he started his career in The Hague in 1605.

About 1613 Valckert moved to Amsterdam and established himself as a painter. He specialized in subject and portrait painting

2.He was a Member of the Guild of St. Luke

Werner van den Valckert was born in Amsterdam. However, he became a member of the Guild of St.Luke in the Hague between 1600-1605.

The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in Early modern Europe. Especially in the low countries.

They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke. The patron saint of artists. He was identified as having painted the Virgin’s portrait.

The guild of Saint Luke not only represented painters, sculptors and other visual artists but also dealers amateurs and art lovers.

Guilds of St.Luke in the Dutch Republic began to reinvent themselves as cities changed over to protestant rule. Many St. Luke guilds reissued charters to protect the interests of local painters from the influx of southern talent from places like Antwerp and Bruges.

 Amsterdam was the first city to reissue a St. Luke’s charter after the reformation in 1579. It included painters, sculptors, engravers, and other trades dealing specifically in the visual arts.

When trade between the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic resumed with the Twelve Years’ Truce in 160. Immigration increased and many Dutch cities reissued guild charters as a form of protection against the great number of paintings that began to cross the border.

3.His Return to Amsterdam after Guild of St. Luke

After Werner Van Den Valckert joining the Guild of St. Luke, he finally returned to his birthplace, Amsterdam. He went back in 1614. This because his daughter was baptized there.

4.Hendrik Goltzius was his Teacher

Werner van den Valckert – Neptune (1619). Author Shuishouyue.WIKIMEDIA

Werner van den Valckert derived his painting experience from Hendrik Goltzius. Hendrik was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter.

He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period. He was lauded for his sophisticated technique, technical mastership and exuberance of his compositions.

5. He Began his Artistic Training with a Stained-glass Painter

Werner van den Valckert – A girl holding pancakes in a feigned stone window. Author Werner van den Valckert. WIKIMEDIA

Werner van den Valckert began his artistic training with the stained-glass painter Cornelis Sybertsz Monicx van Montvoort. He worked in his studio around 1600-1612.

6. Werner Married Cornelis’s Daughter

On November 6, 1605, he married Jannetje Cornelis van Montfoort in The Hague, daughter of glass painter Cornelis Sybertsz Monicx van Montfoort from The Hague.

7.Four of His Paintings were Based on Engravings by Goltzius

He painted a series of 4 paintings showing a doctor as angel, Christ, a man, and the devil. These were all based on engravings by Goltzius.

8.Valckert’s Allegories Dispatch a Unique and Compelling Imagery

As a late Mannerist painter, Valckert’s allegories with An Allegory of Music is  an excellent example. In this painting four figures are depicted singing from songbooks and a sheet of music.

 The Moor’s gaze of the Painting directly engages the viewer. His presence is intended to infuse an element of exoticism into the scene.

 From the sixteenth century on black Africans lived in The Netherlands working as soldiers, musicians, dancers and servants. Slavery was outlawed within the Dutch Republic.

As their numbers increased so too did their representations in art. Evidence of this can be seen in the painting.

Next to the Moor is Euterpe, the Muse of music, wreathed in her traditional attribute, a stunningly rendered garland of flowers. Her presence defines the work as an allegory.

Works depicting this theme alluded to the importance of living a balanced and harmonious life from start to finish. This is personified by the boy and bearded old man in the left and right corners of the foreground.

9. He painted Several Paintings with different Genre Subjects

Three regentesses and the inner mother of the leper home in Amsterdam.Author Werner van den Valckert. WIKIMEDIA

He painted Several Paintings, his paintings had a different message. Example of his paintings are Three Regentess and the Binnenmoeder of the Leprozenhuis.

Three Regentesses and the Binnenmoeder of the Leprozenhuis of Amsterdam is a 1624 oil on panel painting by Werner van den Valckert, now in the Rijksmuseum collection in Amsterdam. It belongs to the regents group portrait genre

The regentesses were responsible for overseeing the domestic affairs of the Lepers’ Asylum. The woman at right is writing on a slate.

At the base of the stairs in the background is the poor figure of Lazarus, begging for crumbs from the table of the selfish rich man. This biblical scene is rendered – in natural colours – as though it were part of the portrait.

Several of these are genre subjects that comment on the foolishness of the world such as the Laughing fool.He also made a series of 4 paintings about relief for the poor, now in the possession of the Amsterdam Historical Museum.

10. His works are Parmanent Collections to Various Museum

Some of his works formed part of the parmanent collections of various museums. Such as museum of Amsterdam, Berlin, Boston, Chateauroux, Copenhagen, Emden, Leiden, Louisville, New York, San Francisco, and Utrecht.