Le Triomphe de Silène

c. 1610

Leaves for Italy

The son of the decorative painter Herman Gerritsz van Honthorst, trained by his father and then by Abraham Bloemaert, Honthorst probably left for Italy in 1610. He is first recorded in Rome in 1616; other Utrecht artists, later to be known as the Utrecht Caravaggisti, went there around the same time.

c. 1610 – 1620

At the palace of Marquis Giustiniani in Rome

In Rome Honthorst lodged at the palace of Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani, where he painted “Christ Before the High Priest” (now in the National Gallery, London), and under Caravaggio's influence took up night scenes lit by a hidden artificial source. Italian documents of his day call him “Gherardo Fiammingo” or “Gherardo Hollandese”: the nickname “Gherardo delle Notti” came into use only in the 18th century.

1620

Returns to Utrecht

Back in Utrecht, Honthorst built a considerable reputation at home and abroad: Sir Dudley Carleton, the English envoy at The Hague, recommended his work to the Earl of Arundel, and his work impressed the young Rembrandt and Frans Hals.

1623

Marries and heads the Guild of St. Luke

In the year of his marriage Honthorst was president of the Guild of St. Luke in Utrecht.

1628

Invited to England by Charles I

Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, sister of Charles I of England, then in exile in the Netherlands, commissioned paintings from Honthorst and engaged him as drawing master to her children; through her the king came to know him and invited him to England. In London he painted allegories and portraits of courtiers.

27 April 1656

Died