Engelbert Ergo

Allegory of Patience, Pushkin Museum

Engelbert Ergo or Engel Ergo (c. 1615 – after 1652) was a Flemish Baroque painter of history paintings and landscapes.

Life

Details about his life are scarce. He was born in Oudenaarde. He was registered in the guild year 1629/30 under the name Engel Ergo in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as a pupil of Kerstiaen de Keuninck. He was registered as a master in 1641/42. In 1644/45 and 1651/52 he took on pupils. There are no records about him after 1652.[1] He is believed to have worked for the Antwerp art dealers such as the Forchondt family.[2]

Work

Ergo is known for his history paintings and landscapes.[1] Ergo's works are very rare. His paintings often contain an allegorical meaning. For instance a landscape painting held by the Pushkin Museum contains an allegorical meaning relating to patience and the painting is therefore referred to as the Allegory of Patience.[3] Ergo made copies of his own work as is demonstrated by the fact that a similar Allegory of Patience was sold by Christie's at an auction in Amsterdam in 2012.[4]

References

Town in flames or The Escape of Loth from Sodoma
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Engelbert Ergo at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  2. ↑ Forchoudt Family, Kunstuitvoer in de 17e Eeuw Te Antwerpen de Firma Forchoudt, De Sikkel, 1931, p. 12 (Dutch)
  3. ↑ Gary Schwartz, 'Behind the Icon Curtain Dutch and Flemish Art in Central and Eastern Europe' in: The Low Countries: Arts and Society in Flanders and The Netherlands, a Yearbook, Flemish-Netherlands Foundation Stichting Ons Erfdeel, 2003, p. 235
  4. ↑ Engelbert Ergo, Winter landscape with an allegory of Patience at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
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