Nicaise de Keyser (26 August 1813 Zandvliet - 17 July 1887 Antwerp), was a Belgian painter who has his talent discovered by the painter Joseph Jacobs who got him a place in the Antwerp art academy. Having debuted with religious pictures, he later had his attention drawn to his country's history. He is known for having painted mostly portraits and elegant historical genre pictures.[1]
Contents |
He received his painting tuition at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts under Joseph Jacobs and Bree, before leaving for Italy in 1839. He married the genre painter Isabella Telghuys on 6 October 1840.
In 1855 de Keyser succeeded Gustave Wappers on his dismissal as director of the Antwerp Academy.[2] Starting in 1862 de Keyser depicted the Flemish School in a series of decorative paintings, destined for the Antwerpse Museum and Academy. These works were moved at the end of the nineteenth century, to the new Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. In 1873 de Keyser was awarded the Prussian "Pour le Mérite".
His painting of the Battle of the Golden Spurs, which was exhibited at the Brussels Salon in 1836, shows the French commander, Robert II of Artois, surrendering his sword shortly before being slaughtered by the Flemish infantry. Seeing the painting is said to have inspired Hendrik Conscience, to write his book "De Leeuw van Vlaanderen" (The Lion of Flanders) and give the starring role to Robert III of Flanders, who had been nowhere near the battle. The success of de Keyser's work led shortly after to his less impressive work, the Battle of Worringen of 1288.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nicaise_de_Keyser Nicaise de Keyser] at Wikimedia Commons