Matthias Jansz. van den Bergh (1618 in
Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...
– 1687 in
Alkmaar
Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...
), was a
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and art an ...
painter.
According to Houbraken, his father
Jan van den Bergh was a painter from Alkmaar in the service of
Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition ...
in Ypres, where Matthias was born.
[Mathys vanden Berg Biography]
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...
Houbraken claimed Jan van den Berg had been a pupil of
Hendrick Goltzius
Hendrick Goltzius, or Hendrik, (; ; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, or Northern Mannerism, lauded for h ...
before moving to Brabant and later working for Rubens.
[ Young Matthias learned to paint from his father and went to work in Rubens' workshop.][
According to the RKD he was in Rubens' workshop from 1630–1640 and in 1635 was either his pupil or was otherwise employed in his workshop.][Matthias Jansz. van den Bergh in the ]RKD
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 i ...
In 1646 he became a member of the Alkmaar 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 Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was identi ...
.[ He lived in ]Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
from 1648–1651, and was back in Alkmaar from then onwards, where he is recorded in 1656 as living in the Lombardsteeg.[ He painted portraits, soldiers, and historical allegories, and is not to be confused with the contemporary Delft painter Mattheus Gillisz van den Berch (c1608-1687).][
]
References
* P. Vanaise, ''Een herziening van de biografie van de Alkmaarse schilders Jan en Matthijs van den Bergh, in Oud Holland
''Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is pu ...
'', 80, 1965 pp 231–237
Matthijs van den Bergh
on Artnet
Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in Berlin that is listed on ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergh, Matthias Jansz. van den
1618 births
1687 deaths
Artists from Ypres
Dutch Golden Age painters
Dutch male painters
Painters from Alkmaar