Denis Van Alsloot
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Denis van Alsloot or Denijs van AlslootDenis van Alsloot
at the
Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...
() was a
Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...
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 ...
and
genre Genre () is any style or form 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 fo ...
painter, draughtsman, and tapestry designer. He was employed as a court painter and worked for the local elite in Brussels. He is considered to be a member of the
Sonian Forest The Sonian Forest or Sonian Wood (, ; , ) is a forest at the south-eastern edge of Brussels, Belgium. It is connected to the Bois de la Cambre, Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos, an urban public park which enters the city up to from the Pentag ...
school of landscape painters, which included landscape painters such as Jacques d'Arthois and Cornelis Huysmans. These painters working in Brussels had a preference for depicting scenes from the Sonian Forest near
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
.Hans Devisscher. "Alsloot, Denijs van." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 25 August 2017 Van Alsloot was also a specialist in depicting civil processions, local festivals and ceremonies.


Life

Van Alsloot was born in
Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...
or possibly
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
. His father was a tapestry worker. It is not known who was his teacher. He is first recorded in official records when he joined the Brussels
Guild of St 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 Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...
in 1599 as a tapestry designer. He also took his first pupil in 1599. He trained a further three apprentices between 1599 and 1625. Van Alsloot was exclusively working on the design of tapestries until 1606, the year in which he signed his first painting. Alsloot's career started to take off from the early 17th century after he was appointed court painter to
Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...
and
Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...
, the governors of the
Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...
. He became a painter to the elite and served a clientele of princes, courtesans and influential state officials. He was still alive in 1626 as is testified by a painting dated in that year. He must have died in or before 1628 as two works he had left as inheritance to a niece were bought in 1628 by the Archduchess Isabella.


Work

Van Alsloot started out in the same profession as his father as a designer of cartoons for the local tapestry works in Brussels. Denys van Alsloot, ''Summer Landscape with a Lady and Gentleman'' and ''Seated and Sportsmen returning with Game''
in: Dutch and Flemish Old Master, at
Johnny Van Haeften John Henry Van Haeften (born 1952) is a British art dealer, who specialises in 16th and 17th century Dutch and Flemish Old Master paintings. He has been a fanatical stamp collector from a young age, specialising in the stamps of Malta, and cred ...
In 1603 he designed a series of tapestries of ''Grotesques'' for the Archdukes. His painting career seems to have started around 1606. He mainly painted landscapes and scenes of local festivals and ceremonies. His work can be regarded as transitory in the development of
landscape art Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coh ...
in the early 17th century. All his known dated works were made in Brussels between 1606 and 1626. He often signed his works with the addition of 'S.A.Pic.'. This is short for 'Serenissorum Archiducum Pictor', a reference to his official position as a court painter to Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella.Denis van Alsloot, ''Flight into Egypt''
at Sotheby's
Van Alsloot painted topographically accurate as well as imaginary landscapes, including summer and winter landscapes. Like later landscape painters in Brussels such as
Lucas Achtschellinck Lucas Achtschellinck (baptized 16 January 1626 – buried 12 May 1699) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish landscape painter.Lodewijk de Vadder Lodewijk de Vadder (1605, Grimbergen – 1655, Brussels) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish Baroque landscape painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer.Hans Devisscher. "Lodewijk de Vadder" Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxf ...
and Jacques d'Arthois, van Alsloot drew inspiration from the
Sonian Forest The Sonian Forest or Sonian Wood (, ; , ) is a forest at the south-eastern edge of Brussels, Belgium. It is connected to the Bois de la Cambre, Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos, an urban public park which enters the city up to from the Pentag ...
near Brussels. His forested landscapes often incorporate views of castles and abbeys located in the Sonian Forest near Brussels. As van Alsloot's works are generally topographically accurate, it is possible to identify places that still survive, especially near the abbeys of Groenendael and Ter Kameren. His series of views of the abbeys in the Sonian Forest was presumably made on commission for the Archduke Albert. He painted several versions of the winter view of Groenendael, all with differences as well as a few summer views. Some of his works have an archaic feeling and appear inspired by landscape painting of the 16th century. The style of his landscape paintings shows an affinity with the work of
Gillis van Coninxloo Gillis van Coninxloo (now also referred to as Gillis van Coninxloo II but previously referred to as Gillis van Coninxloo III) (24 January 1544 – January 1607) was a Flemish painter of landscapes who played an important role in the development ...
. In comparison to van Coninxloo, van Alsloot's work is calmer and more static, uses a softer palette and is more precise of touch and more realistic. As such his work appears to be a synthesis of the styles of van Coninxloo and
Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder ( , ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painting, Flemish painter and Draughtsmanship, draughtsman. He was the younger son of the eminent Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish ...
. He also produced a number of landscape drawings that were likely intended as independent works of art. An example is the ''Forest Landscape with a Distant Castle'' of 1608 in the
J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...
, which is a fully developed and refined composition of a forest landscape with a view on buildings in the distance. The scenes in his landscape art often depict an actual site with topographical correctness and precision.Denis van Alsloot – Forest Landscape with a Distant Castle in: George R. Goldner, Lee Hendrix, Kelly Pask, ''European Drawings 2: Catalogue of the Collections'', Getty Publications, 8 October 1992 He was also commissioned by the court of Albert and Isabella to paint views of their estates at Mariemont and
Tervuren Tervuren (; ) is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren proper, Vossem and Moorsel. On 1 January 2006, Tervuren had a total population o ...
and of the Abbey of Groenendael. He often collaborated with
Hendrick de Clerck Hendrick de Clerck (c. 1560 – 27 August 1630) was a Flemish painting, Flemish painter active in Brussels during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Stylistically he belongs to the late Mannerism, Mannerist generation of art ...
who painted the ''
staffage In painting, staffage () are the human and animal figures depicted in a scene, especially a 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 c ...
'' in his landscape and mythological works. These landscapes contained mythological or biblical figures and were typically signed by both painters. There exist landscapes by van Alsloot not co-signed by the two painters in which the staffage was likely also made by de Clerck. The figures painted by de Clerck were draped in vividly coloured clothing, which clashed with the brown-green tonality of the landscape painted by Alsloot. He received commissions to make paintings of local festivals and ceremonies. His most valuable commission by Archduchess Isabella was a series of eight paintings commemorating the
Ommegang Ommegang or Ommeganck (Dutch language, Dutch: "walk around" (the church, village or city), ) is the generic name for various medieval medieval pageant, pageants celebrated in the Low Countries (areas that are now within Belgium, the Netherlands, ...
procession held in Brussels on 31 May 1615 for which he received 10,000 guilders. He received the commission before September 1615. It is likely that only six of the originally commissioned eight works were eventually executed. These were kept at the Archduchess' palace of Tervuren, located north-east of Brussels.The Ommeganck in Brussels on 31 May 1615: The Senior Guilds
at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Two of the six paintings of the Ommegang painted by van Alsloot are considered lost. Of the surviving works, two are in the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
in London and two in the
Prado Museum The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on ...
in Madrid. One of the paintings held in the Victoria and Albert Museum was split in two at an unknown date. An undivided copy of it made around 1635 is in the collection of the
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (, ; , ) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They are part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and consist of six museums: the Oldmasters Museum, the ...
in Brussels, while a copy of one of the halves is held by the Prado Museum. Artistically the works are not very remarkable as they mainly served a documentary, rather than an artistic, purpose. The paintings offer historians an interesting insight into this type of festivity. That year's Ommegang procession was particularly festive since two weeks earlier, at the
jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...
-shooting ceremony of the Crossbowmen's guild, Isabella had successfully shot the jay that had been attached to the spire of the
Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
. She was then crowned Queen of the guild. It is assumed that Isabella had a political motive in ordering the series of paintings of the Ommegang. As her husband was ailing and likely to die soon, she wanted to show the court in Spain that she was regarded by the inhabitants of the Spanish Netherlands as their 'natural princess' and should therefore by allowed to continue to rule the Spanish Netherlands after her husband's death. For this reason, she sent some of the pictures of the Ommegang to the court in Spain. At the same time, the Brussels elites used the Ommegang for their own political purposes as it was a demonstration to the other sections of society in Brussels that they had the support of the Archduchess. The city of Brussels and the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon, the church around which the Ommegang revolved, ordered copies of the paintings.Robert Stein, Judith Pollmann, ''Networks, Regions and Nations: Shaping Identities in the Low Countries'', 1300–1650, Brill, 2010, pp. 145–146


References


Further reading

*Van Sprang, Sabine, ''Denijs Van Alsloot (Vers 1568? – 1625/26): Peintre Paysagiste Au Service De La Cour Des Archiducs Albert Et Isabelle'', Brepols Publishers, 31 Oct 2014


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alsloot, Denis van 1570s births 1620s deaths Flemish Renaissance painters Flemish landscape painters Painters from Mechelen Flemish tapestry artists Painters from Brussels