Engelbert Ergo or Engel Ergo (c. 1615 – after 1652) 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 ...

Baroque painter of

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

s and

landscapes 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 the ...

. His few known works often include religious elements or allegories.

Life

Details about the life of Engelbert Ergo are scarce. He was born in

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgium, Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders. The municipality ...

.Engelbert Ergo
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 ...

He was registered in the guild year 1629–30 under the name Engel Ergo in the

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 ...

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 iden ...

as a pupil of Kerstiaen de Keuninck, an artist known for his oeuvre of landscapes and disaster scenes. He was registered as a master in 1641–42. In 1644–45 and 1651–52 he took on pupils. Engelbert Ergo - Town in flames or The Escape of Loth from Sodoma

Engelbert Ergo - Town in flames or The Escape of Loth from Sodoma

There are no records about the artist after 1652. He is believed to have worked for the Antwerp art dealers such as the Forchondt family.

Work

Ergo is known for his history paintings and landscapes. Ergo's works are very rare. His paintings often contain an allegorical meaning. For instance a landscape painting held by the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

contains an allegorical meaning relating to patience and the painting is therefore referred to as the ''Allegory of Patience''. Ergo made copies of his own work as is demonstrated by the fact that a similar ''Allegory of Patience'' was auctioned at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

in 2012 (Amsterdam auction of 14 November 2012, lot 33). He also produced several landscapes with animals such as '' Orpheus charming the animals'' (at Jean Moust in 2014) and ''Noah gathering the Animals'' (Auctioned at Bonhams on 17 June 2008 in London, lot 12).Attributed to Engelbert Ergo (Oudenaarde circa 1620-circa 1667), ''Noah gathering the Animals''
at Bonhams

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ergo, Engelbert Flemish Baroque painters People from Oudenaarde Painters from Antwerp Year of birth uncertain