Cornelis van Cleve, Cornelis van Cleef or Cornelis van der Beke, nickname ''Sotte Cleve'' ('Mad Cleve') (1520 in Antwerp – 1567/1614)Leo van Puyvelde (1942)
''The Flemish drawings in the collection of His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle''
p. 13 was a

Flemish Renaissance The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders). Culture in the Low ...

painter active in Antwerp who is known for his religious compositions and portraits. Starting his career in Antwerp in the workshop of his father

Joos van Cleve Joos van Cleve (; also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the tr ...

, he later worked for a while in London. When he failed to achieve success in England, he became insane and stopped painting.Cornelis van Cleve
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

He was born in Antwerp as the son of Anna Vijdt and

, a prominent representative of the 16th-century

Antwerp school The Antwerp School was a school of artists active in Antwerp, first during the 16th century when the city was the economic center of the Low Countries, and then during the 17th century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque ...

of painting.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 128 Little is known about his training but it is believed he trained in his father's studio. Some details of his life have become mixed up with those of his father. It was believed previously it was his father who became mad and was given the nickname 'Sotte Cleve' ('Mad Cleve'). However, the current view is that it was Cornelis who became mad. Cornelis van Cleve - Holy Family - WGA05032

Cornelis van Cleve - Holy Family - WGA05032

Cornelis was a proficient helper in the studio of his father, probably from 1535 to 1540. It is not clear when Cornelis van Cleve became a master in the local

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 the son of a master he did not need to register as a pupil with the Guild. He may have become a master in the Guild year 1540-1541 during which his father died. The records of the Guild for that year are lost.Max J. Friedländer, ''Early Netherlandish painting'', A.W. Sijthoff, 1972 He seems to have been a struggling artist. There are reports that in 1546 and 1547 he had difficulties making payments on his house. This is likely the reason why he sold the house in 1555 and emigrated to England. An additional reason may have been that he harbored Protestant sympathies, as may be surmised from the name of his daughter Abigael. The artist likely went to England to seek the patronage of

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal fro ...

who had become the joint ruler of England after his marriage to

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

.Susan E. James, ''The Feminine Dynamic in English Art, 1485-1603: Women as Consumers, Patrons and Painters'', Routledge The madness was reportedly caused by a conflict between Cornelis and the prominent portrait painter

Anthonis Mor Anthonis Mor, also known as Anthonis Mor van Dashorst and Antonio Moro (c. 1517 – 1577), was a Netherlandish portrait painter, much in demand by the courts of Europe. He has also been referred to as Antoon, Anthonius, Anthonis or Mor van Dash ...

. He had asked Mor to plead on his behalf with Philip II to give him commissions but Mor's intercession had been unsuccessful. This episode caused the artist to become insane.Cornelis van Cleve, ''A Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist''
at Dorotheum It is not clear when the artist died. Estimates place the time of his death between 1567 and 1614.

Works

Cornelis van Cleve - Virgem da Anunciação

Cornelis van Cleve was only active during a fourteen-year period in Antwerp and London. Nevertheless, he was able to leave an extensive body of work as can be deduced from the frequent mention of his works in 16th and 17th-century inventories. Rubens owned two works by the artist. The English King Charles I also owned two works by 'Sotte Cleve', which are no longer in the Royal Collection including a 'Bacchus feast of children being some, one and twenty figures'. Max J. Friedländer identified a group of works originally attributed to an artist given the

notname In art history, a ''Notname'' (, "necessity-name" or "contingency-name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled, or generically title ...

Pseudo-Lombard as works of Cornelis van Cleve. Of the works attributed to both Joos van Cleve and Cornelis van Cleve, the authorship of father or son remains often a matter of dispute. Cornelis van Cleve painted predominantly religious paintings and to a lesser extent mythological scenes and portraits. Walter Friedländer organised van Cleve's pictures in chronological order, based on the development in his style. He thus showed that the painter had distanced himself gradually from his father's style. Initially he was a representative of the tradition in the period dominated by

Pieter Coecke van Aelst Pieter Coecke van Aelst or Pieter Coecke van Aelst the Elder ( Aalst, 14 August 1502 – Brussels, 6 December 1550) was a Flemish painter, sculptor, architect, author and designer of woodcuts, goldsmith's work, stained glass and tapestries.

Frans Floris Frans Floris, Frans Floris the Elder or Frans Floris de Vriendt (17 April 15191 October 1570) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print artist and tapestry designer. He is mainly known for his history paintings, allegorical scenes and portraits.< ...

and Anthonis Mor, Flemish painters who had studied in Italy or had become influenced by Italian art. He made efforts to keep up with the new style by eagerly looking around for Italian models. This paintings show influences from

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially re ...

and

Andrea del Sarto Andrea del Sarto (, , ; 16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, ...

.Henri Pauwels, in Dictionnaire des Peintres Belges, Kirk Irpa, 1994

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleve, Cornelis van 1520 births Flemish Renaissance painters Flemish history painters Flemish portrait painters Artists from Antwerp Year of death unknown

Life

Works

References

Further reading

External links