Gerard van Honthorst

Gerard "Gerrit" van Honthorst (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656)

Early life

thumbnail|Granida and Daifilo, 1625

thumb|The Concert, 1623, [[National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)]]

thumb|[[The Matchmaker (painting)|The Matchmaker (1625), showing the use of Carravagesque lighting effects]]

thumbnail|Musical Group on a Balcony (1622)

Van Honthorst was born in Utrecht, the son of a decorative painter, and trained under his father, and then under Abraham Bloemaert.

Italy

Having completed his education, Honthorst went to Italy, where he is first recorded in 1616. In Rome he lodged at the palace of Vincenzo Giustiniani, where he painted Christ Before the High Priest, now in London's National Gallery.

Return to Utrecht

Honthorst returned to Utrecht in 1620, and went on to build a considerable reputation both in the Dutch Republic and abroad.

His brother Willem van Honthorst (1594–1666) was also a portrait painter. Many of Willem's paintings were previously misattributed to Gerrit due to the similarity of their signatures. Willem was a pupil of Abraham Bloemaert, and was also taught by his own elder brother. In 1646 he went to Berlin, where he became court painter to Louise-Henriette, wife of the Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. He returned to Utrecht in 1664.

Nickname

Honthorst is often referred to as "Gherardo delle notti" ("Gerrit of the Nights") by modern Italians. However, the nickname does not actually appear in any known Italian sources dating before Honthorst's death. Surviving Italian documents from before 1656 refer to the artist as either "Gherardo Fiammingo" ("Gerrit the Fleming") or "Gherardo Hollandese" ("Gerrit the Dutchman"), emphasizing his foreignness rather than his trademark skill at rendering nocturnal lighting. It was only in the 18th century that the nickname "Gherardo delle notti" came into widespread use.

Legacy

Honthorst was a prolific artist. His most attractive pieces are those in which he cultivates the style of Caravaggio, often tavern scenes with musicians, gamblers and people eating. He had great skill at chiaroscuro, often painting scenes illuminated by a single candle.

Some of his pieces were portraits of the Duke of Buckingham and his family (Hampton Court), the King and Queen of Bohemia (Hanover and Combe Abbey), Marie de' Medici (Amsterdam Stadthuis), 1628, the Stadtholders and their Wives (Amsterdam and The Hague), Charles Louis and Rupert, Charles I's nephews (Louvre, St Petersburg, Combe Abbey and Willin), and Baron Craven (National Portrait Gallery, London). His early style can be seen in the Lute-player (1614) in the Louvre, the Martyrdom of St John in Santa Maria della Scala at Rome, or the Liberation of Peter in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

His 1620 The Adoration of the Shepherds in the Uffizi was destroyed in the Via dei Georgofili Massacre of 1993.

Honthorst's 1623 The Concert was purchased for an undisclosed sum by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from a private collection in France in November 2013. The painting had not been on view since 1795. The The Concert went on display for the first time in 218 years in a special installation at the National Gallery of Art's West Building on 23 November 2013. It remained there for six months before going on permanent display in the museum's Dutch and Flemish galleries.

Gallery

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File:St. Peter by Honthorst.JPG|St. Peter Being Freed from Prison, 1616–1618, Berlin State Museums

File:Gherardo delle Notti-Adoration of the Child.jpg|Adoration of the Child, 1620

Gerard van Honthorst - Adoration of the Shepherds - WGA11657.jpg|Adoration of the Shepherds 1622, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum

File:Gerard van Honthorst - Christ before the High Priest - WGA11650.jpg|Christ before the High Priest, , National Gallery, London

File:The Mocking of Christ LACMA.jpg|Mocking of Christ by Gerard van Honthorst

Image:Le Reniement de saint Pierre.jpg|The Denial of Saint Peter, c. 1620

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File:Gerard van Honthorst - King David Playing the Harp - Google Art Project.jpg|King David Playing the Harp

File:Gerrit van Honthorst - De vrolijke speelman.jpg|The Happy Fiddler, 1623 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

File:Gerard van Honthorst - Lute Player - WGA11666.jpg|Lute Player, 1624

File:Gerrit Van Honthorst - Joyeux Violoniste.jpg|The Happy Violinist with a Glass of Wine, 1624, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

File:Gerard van Honthorst - lviv gallery.jpg|Woman with guitar 1631, Lviv National Art Gallery

File:Gerard van Honthorst - Woman Playing the Guitar - WGA11669.jpg|Woman Playing the Guitar

File:Gerard van Honthorst - lviv gallery2.jpg|Man with viola da gamba

File:Gerard van Honthorst - Der liederliche Student - 391 - Bavarian State Painting Collections.jpg|Merry Company

File:Merry Musician with Violin under His Left Arm.jpg|Merry Musician with Violin under His Left Arm

File:Gherardo delle Notti-Supper with a Lute Player.jpg|Supper with a Lute Player

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File:Honthorst solon and croesus.jpg|Solon and Croesus

File:Portret van Willem II (1626-50), prins van Oranje, en zijn echtgenote Maria Stuart (1631-60) Rijksmuseum SK-A-871.jpeg|Portrait of William II (1626–50), prins of Oranje, and Maria Stuart (1631–60)

File:The Steadfast Philosopher, by Gerard van Hondhorst.jpg|The Steadfast Philosopher, 1623 Private collection

File:Smiling girl holding an obscene image, by Gerard van Honthorst.jpg|Smiling Girl, a Courtesan, Holding an Obscene Image, 1625

Image:Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647), prins van Oranje (Atelier of Gerard van Honthorst, 1650).jpg|Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, 1650

File:The soldier and the girl, by Gerard van Honthorst.jpg|The soldier and the girl

Image:Amalia van Solms (Gerard van Honthorst, 1650).jpg|Pendant portrait of Amalia van Solms-Braunfels

File:Gerard van Honthorst - Margareta Maria de Roodere and Her Parents - WGA11679.jpg|Margareta Maria de Roodere and Her Parents (c. 1652) Centraal Museum, Utrecht

File:Allegory of Painting.JPG|Allegory of Painting (1648) Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California

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References

Sources

Filippo Baldinucci's Artists in biographies by Filippo Baldinucci, 1610–1670, p. 198  Internet Archive

External links

Gerrit-van-honthorst.org Works by Gerrit van Honthorst
Picture gallery at WGA
Reproduction of The Laughing Violinist
Works and literature at PubHist
Vermeer and The Delft School, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Gerard van Honthorst
Dutch and Flemish paintings from the Hermitage, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Gerard van Honthorst (cat. no. 12)