Abraham BloemaertDutch, 1566–1651Prediking van Johannes de Doper
Can I see it?
Unknown
Where is “Prediking van Johannes de Doper” now? Collection: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Unknown.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
The protagonist in this scene, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, stands partially concealed in the shade of a group of fanciful trees. It is as if Bloemaert wanted to prove that he could paint virtually anything and everything: a mountainous landscape, leafy trees, as well as figures, either nude or clad in exotic colourful gowns and arranged in complicated poses. All of this proves him to be a master of Mannerism.
Rijksmuseum
Details
- Accession number
- SK-A-3746
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Rijksmuseum
- Image: Rijksmuseum — public domain
In the life of Abraham Bloemaert
The whole life1591
Follows his father to Amsterdam
When his father is appointed city architect (stads-bouwmeester) of Amsterdam in 1591, Bloemaert accompanies him there.
1593
Death of his father
In 1593 his father, the architect Cornelis Bloemaert I, dies; Abraham returns to Utrecht.
1593–1594
Sets up a workshop in Utrecht
Back in Utrecht, Bloemaert sets up a workshop of his own; many of his paintings are commissioned by the city's clandestine Catholic churches.
1594
Dean of the saddlemakers' guild in Utrecht
In 1594 Bloemaert becomes dean (“deken”) of the saddlemakers' guild, which included painters: since 1367 painters had belonged to it, with no Guild of St Luke of their own.
c. 1600
From Haarlem Mannerism to the Baroque
Having begun in the style of the “Haarlem Mannerists”, by the beginning of the 17th century Bloemaert alters his style in line with the new Baroque style then developing.
1611
Co-founds the Utrecht Guild of St Luke
In 1611, together with the two other leading Utrecht painters, Joachim Wtewael and Paulus Moreelse, Bloemaert founds the Utrecht Guild of Saint Luke, a new painters' guild.
