Denis Calvaert (; around 154016 April 1619) was an

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

-born Flemish painter who spent most of his life in Italy, where he was known as Dionisio Fiammingo () or simply Il Fiammingo ("the Fleming"). Calvaert was a profound student of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. His works are characterized by their advanced composition and colouring. Calvaert is well known for his drawings and small copper paintings. Some of his best known works include his rendition of The Resurrection of Christ and Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness.

Biography

After studying

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

-painting for some time in his native city (the Antwerp "Record of Artists" or " Liggeren" (1556–57), gives his name as Caluwaert), he first studied under Christiaen van Queecborn. He then went to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, where he apprenticed under Prospero Fontana. His paintings acquired the

mannerism Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

of Flemish art and appeared to be the work of an Italian. In 1572, he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he assisted Lorenzo Sabbatini in his works for the papal palace of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, and devoted much of his time to copying and studying the works of Raphael Sanzio. He returned to Bologna and founded a studio. He took as a pupil the daughter of his mentor, Lavinia Fontana, and a number of prominent young apprentices, including

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but al ...

, Giovanni Battista Bertusio,

Francesco Albani Francesco Albani or Albano (17 March or 17 August 1578 – 4 October 1660) was an Italian Baroque painter of Albanian descent who was active in Bologna (1591–1600; 1609; 1610; 1618–1622), Rome (1600–1609; 1610–1617; 1623–1625), ...

and Domenichino, who soon followed

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino Carracci, Agostino and cousin Ludovico Carracci, Ludovico (with whom the Ca ...

's example and took prominent commissions in Rome. Vicenzio Gotti, Francesco Gessi, and Giacomo Semenza also worked in his studio, before joining the studio of Guido Reni. Vincenzo Spisanelli and Gabriello Ferrantini worked under Calvaert as well.

Style and legacy

Calvaert typically used

chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...

techniques to set stylized foreground figures derived from

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...

against northern European landscapes. His use of colour also reflects the influence of Barocci. While continuing to pursue a

mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

aesthetic throughout his career, Calvaert became a significant contributor the brand of classicism that came to characterize the Bolognese school of painting from the start of the 17th century. His principal works are to be seen at Bologna,

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, St. Petersburg,

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, and

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. Some of his paintings were lost in WWII and therefore only his etchings of those pieces remain. Calvaert's painting of The Holy Family and Saint John the Baptist was one of the few that was returned to the family through Nazi-Era Provenance Research. Many of his pieces are on display at the National Art Gallery of Bologna, while "St Michael", one of his most renowned works is displayed at the Basilica of San Petronio. Other paintings and drawings by Calvaert can be found at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in Paris (unde
Dionys Calvaert
, The

Met Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York (unde
Denijs Calvaert
, The

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, The Morgan, Museo Nacional del Prado, and the Museum & Gallery in Greenville, South Carolina.

Works

File:Denys Calvaert (Antwerp 1540- Bologna 1619) - The Assumption of the Virgin - RCIN 405738 - Royal Collection.jpg, The Assumption of the Virgin, Royal Art Collection File:Denys Calvaert - The Conversion of Saint Paul.jpg, The Conversion of Saint Paul ( Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest) File:Denis Calvaert - Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine - Google Art Project.jpg, Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine File:Calvaert Noli me tangere 01.jpg, Noli me tangere File:Denys Calvaert - The Death of Saint Peter Martyr - Google Art Project.jpg, Death of Saint Peter Martyr (Denijs Calvaert) File:Lorenzo Sabatini y Denys Calvaert Sagrada Familia con San Juanito y San Miguel arcángel San Giacomo Maggiore Bolonia.jpg, ''Holy Family with Saint John and Archangel Michael'', San Giacomo Maggiore,

File:Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Scuola Romana).jpg, Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine File:Denijs calvaert, la vigilanza.jpg, La Vigilanza by Denijs Calvaert File:Calvaert Rest on the flight into Egypt.jpg, Rest on the Flight into Egypt File:Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Anne... by Denys Calvaert.jpg, ''Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Anne'' File:Denis Calvaert 001.jpg, The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

) File:Denys Calvaert - Virgin and Child in a Rocky Landscape.jpg, Virgin and Child in a Rocky Landscape File:Denijs calvaert, san giovanni evangelista.jpg, San Giovanni Evangelista

Notes

References

Sources

Dionysius Calvaert info
newadvent.org. Accessed 23 February 2024.

External links

*

ArtCyclopedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvaert, Denis 1540 births 1619 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Renaissance painters Flemish Renaissance painters Painters from Bologna Flemish Mannerist painters Painters from Antwerp Italian Mannerist painters