Nicolaas van Eyck

Soldiers resting in a village, 1640

Nicolaas van Eyck I or Nicolaas van Eijck (I) (1617, Antwerp – 1679, Antwerp), was a Flemish painter of landscapes, equestrian and battle scenes and portraits.

Life

He was a pupil in Antwerp of the important genre and history painter Theodoor Rombouts under whom he started to study from 1632.[1] He was captain of the schutterij and this may be a reason why he painted military scenes.[2] He was friends with the flower painter Jan Philip van Thielen, who had also been a pupil of Rombouts. Van Eyck was godfather to at least one of van Thielen's nine children.[3]

He was the teacher of Pieter Hofman. His sons Nicolaas II and Jan Carel van Eyck became painters.[1] Jan Carel was a student of Jan Erasmus Quellinus and spent time in Italy.[4]

Work

A scene of rebellion

He is known for landscapes with soldiers and horsemen.[1] A rather intriguing painting is his Scene of a rebellion (Hospitalfield Arts) depicting a rebellion in a city. It appears that a group of armed men are firing into an unarmed, unperturbed crowd. The front row of the crowd being shot at consists of three men who have their back turned towards the shooters.[5] He also painted genre-like portraits such as the Portrait of a drinking man (sold at Van Ham).[6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicolaas van Eyck.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nicolaas van Eyck at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  2. ↑ Cornelis de Bie, Het Gulden Cabinet, 1660, p. 388 (Dutch)
  3. ↑ Jan Philip van Thielen at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  4. ↑ Jan Carel van Eyck at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  5. ↑ A Scene of Rebellion by Nicolaas van Eyck at BBC your paintings
  6. ↑ Nicolaas van Eyck (1617 Antwerpen - 1679 Antwerpen), Porträt eines trinkenden Mannes at Van Ham (German)