Carel van Savoyen or Carel van Savoy (1620/21–1665) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

painter, draughtsman and printmaker who was active in Antwerp and Amsterdam. He is mainly known for his history paintings and portraits but he also painted allegories and genre scenes.Carel van Savoyen
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center ...

Life

The artist was born in Antwerp. He was the older brother of Philips van Savoy (or 'Philips van Savoyen') who was also a painter and later was active in Amsterdam. He was registered in the Antwerp

Guild of Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was id ...

as a pupil of the history and portrait painter

Jan Cossiers Jan Cossiers ( Antwerp, 15 July 1600 – Antwerp, 4 July 1671) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. Cossiers' earliest works were Caravaggesque genre works depicting low life scenes. Later in his career he painted mostly history and religi ...

in 1634-35. He left for Italy where he stayed in Rome in the period from 1643 to 1645.Carel van Savoyen, ''An elegant couple courting in a formal garden''
at Galerie Jan de Maere The artist was recorded in Amsterdam on 20 April 1649 when he marries Catharina Wandelman, the daughter of a wealthy Catholic merchant in Amsterdam.Robert Schillemans, ''Altarpieces by Carel van Savoy and Nicolaes Roosendael'', in: Hoogsteder Mercury Journal 13-14 He stated at the time that he was 28 years of age. He became citizen (poorter) of Amsterdam on 1 September 1649. He is known to have worked on two large paintings, both dated 1659, for churches in the Northern Netherlands. That Carel van Savoyen received the commission for these two altarpieces may have had something to do with the connections of his wife's wealthy Catholic family, which made him the brother-in-law of an Amsterdam priest. The prestige of Flemish art with the Amsterdam elite of the day may also have played a role. One of his paintings representing ''

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

and

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord".R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by a ...

'' was reportedly the subject of a poem by the Dutch poet

Jan Vos Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

. His work was also lavishly praised in

Cornelis de Bie Cornelis de Bie (10 February 1627 – ) was a Flemish ''rederijker'', poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier. He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies. He is known internationally today for his biographical sketches of Flemish ...

's 1662 book of artist biographies entitled

Het Gulden Cabinet ''Het Gulden Cabinet vande Edel Vry Schilder-Const'' or ''The Golden Cabinet of the Noble Liberal Art of Painting'' is a book by the 17th-century Flemish notary and ''rederijker'' Cornelis de Bie published in Antwerp. Written in the Dutch langu ...

.Cornelis de Bie, ''Het gulden cabinet van de edel vry schilderconst''
Antwerp, 1622, pp. 369–369 This shows that his work was held in high esteem by other artists of his time. Subsequently it fell, however, into oblivion. He remained active in Amsterdam until his death in 1665.

Work

Carel van Savoyen's small extant oeuvre comprises only a dozen portraits and history pieces. He was known for his paintings of religious and mythological subjects as well as for his portraits. In the text underneath the selfportrait of Carel van Savoyen, which was included in

, the artist is described as being skilled at painting small figures, mainly of nude women. Carel van Savoyen also painted

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...

scenes such as the composition ''An elegant couple courting in a formal garden'' (signed, formerly at Galerie Jan de Maere). This painting depicts an elegantly dressed man offering a flower to a lady sitting at a table in a garden with classical statues. An ''Interior with a Music Party'' (oil on canvas,

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

), currently attributed by the museum to 'circle of

Gillis van Tilborch Gillis van Tilborgh or Gillis van Tilborch (''c''. 1625 – ''c''. 1678) was a Flemish painter who worked in various genres including portraits, 'low-life' and elegant genre paintings and paintings of picture galleries. He became the keeper of ...

' is likely also by the hand of Carel van Savoyen. In this painting the lady holding a music score and the man standing behind the harpsichord appear to be the same as the two figures depicted in the signed ''An elegant couple courting in a formal garden''. Carel van Savoyen - The judgement of Paris

Carel van Savoyen - The judgement of Paris

A near-contemporary Amsterdam inventory also lists an allegory by his hand. An example of an allegorical painting by van Savoyen is the composition entitled ''An allegory of abundance'' (Signed and dated 1651, at Jean Moust). During his period of activity in Antwerp van Savoyen followed the style of his master Jan Cossiers and of the important portrait painter

Gonzales Coques Gonzales Coques (between 1614 and 1618 – 18 April 1684) was a Flemish painter of portraits and history paintings.Veronique van Passel, "Coques ocks; Cox Gonzales onsael; Gonsalo" ''Grove Art Online''. Oxford University Press, ccessed 4 Octob ...

. In Amsterdam his work became influenced by local artists such as

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally co ...

and

Gerard de Lairesse Gerard or Gérard (de) Lairesse (11 September 1641 – June 1711) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. His broad range of skills included music, poetry, and theatre. De Lairesse was influenced by the Perugian Cesare Ripa and Fr ...

. His portrait drawing of Frans Koerten was engraved by

Theodor Matham Theodor Matham, also Theodoor Matham (born 1589) was a Dutch engraver. He was the younger son of the better known engraver Jacob Matham, and the brother of the engravers Jan and Adriaen Matham Adriaen Matham (1590 – 1660) was a Dutch Golden A ...

. A painting by Carel van Savoyen of

Jan de Doot Jan de Doot () is the subject of a painting from 1655 by Carel van Savoyen. It shows De Doot, a smith, holding in one hand a kitchen knife, and in the other a large bladder stone the size and shape of an egg, set in gold. This 17th-century Dutch ...

holding a

kidney stone Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine ...

in the shape of an egg hangs in the Portrait Collection of the Laboratory of

Pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

, which is part of the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of L ...

in the Netherlands. The story behind the painting is that Jan de Doot, a Dutch blacksmith, reported to have performed a successful kidney stone removal on himself in 1651.Een zieke zichzelf van de steen snijdende
in ''Observationes Medicae'' on Google books Carel van Savoyen works can be found in the

Hessisches Landesmuseum Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (HLMD) is a large multidisciplinary museum in Darmstadt, Germany. The museum exhibits Rembrandt, Beuys, a primeval horse and a mastodon under the slogan "The whole world under one roof". As one of the oldest pub ...

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

, the Greek orthodox chapel in Leipzig and in the old Catholic church of

Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savoyen, Carel Van 1619 births 1665 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Flemish history painters Flemish genre painters Flemish portrait painters Painters from Antwerp Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters