Raphael Coxcie (c. 1540 – 1616), was a Flemish

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

painter mainly known for his

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

paintings.

Life

Details about the life and career of the artist are sketchy. He was only rediscovered as a distinctive artist in the 19th century as it was earlier believed that Raphael Coxie was another name for

Michiel Coxie Michiel Coxie the Elder, Michiel Coxcie the Elder or Michiel van Coxcie, Latinised name ''Coxius''Michiel Coxie (I) ...

, one of the leading Flemish Renaissance painters who was known in his time as the 'Flemish

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

'. It is assumed that Raphael Coxie 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 ...

as the eldest son of

Michiel Coxie Michiel Coxie the Elder, Michiel Coxcie the Elder or Michiel van Coxcie, Latinised name ''Coxius''Michiel Coxie (I) ...

by his first wife Ida van Hasselt. The time of birth was likely between 1539, the year of his father's return from Italy, and 1543, the year his father was registered in the Brussels

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 ...

and declared to have a son named Raphael. Raphael Coxie is said to have been given his first name because of the admiration of his father for the Italian painter known by that name.Het Laatste Oordeel van Raphael Coxie
at Lukas web He was the older brother of Anna and Willem and half brother of Michiel the Younger. Anna was a sculptor and later became a nun while Willem and Michiel the Younger were painters.Raphael Coxie
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 a pupil of his father and became master in the Mechelen

in 1562. He is documented as residing in Mechelen up to the early 1580s. His first wife Jeanne van Bekercke was buried in Mechelen in 1577 and he then married Elisabeth Cauthals who also died. He moved to Antwerp some time between 1581 and 1585 where he became master in the local Guild of St. Luke in 1585. He had by that time married a third time. His last wife was Anna Jonghelinck and a son of theirs was baptized in Antwerp on 20 January 1585. Last Judgment Raphael Coxie

Raphael was a passionate gardener and friend of the Flemish botanist

Carolus Clusius Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists. Life C ...

to whom he sent drawings of flowers, which Clusius used in his scientific publications. After the

Fall of Antwerp The fall of Antwerp ( ) on 17 August 1585 took place during the Eighty Years' War, after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585. The city of Antwerp was the focal point of the Protestant-dominated Dutch Revolt, but was fo ...

in 1585 he was commissioned to make the painting of the retable of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

for the altar of the Confrerie of Our Lady in the

Antwerp Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's seat of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. It was construct ...

. He executed the painting in collaboration with

Hans Vredeman de Vries Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604 ...

, who was responsible for the architectonic elements of the composition.Edm. De Busscher, ''Raphaël Van Coxcie''
in: La Biographie Nationale de Belgique, Volume 4, p. 462-466 He was active from 1586 in Brussels where he became a master of the local painter's guild in 1605. In the period 1588-89 he spent time in Ghent on a major commission for a painting of the ''Last Judgement'' to be placed in the chamber of the city aldermen. The painting had been ordered by the local city magistrate to replace a panel by Cornelis van der Goes that had gone missing after the iconoclastic fury of the

Beeldenstorm ''Beeldenstorm'' () in Dutch and ''Bildersturm'' in German (roughly translatable from both languages as 'attack on the images or statues') are terms used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th centu ...

. The fee for the work had not been agreed beforehand and when the Ghent aldermen offered to pay an amount of 1,000 guilders Coxie relied on a clause in the contract to have the value of the painting assessed by masters or other persons knowledgeable on these matters. The artists

Maerten de Vos Maerten de Vos, Maerten de Vos the Elder or Marten de Vos (1532 – 4 December 1603)Maerten de Vos
at the

Ambrosius Francken I Ambrosius Francken I (1544–1618) was a Flemish painter known for his religious works and historical allegories painted in a late Mannerist style. He was a prominent member of the Francken family of artists, which played a very important ro ...

Gillis Mostaert Gillis Mostaert the Elder (27 or 28 November 1528 – 28 December 1598) was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp in the second half of the 16th century.Bernaert de Rijckere were asked to value the painting and they put its value at an amount of about 1,400 guilders. The aldermen paid the amount of 1,400 guilders but then a conflict arose over the return of the advance fee received by Coxie. This led to judicial proceedings which were decided by the Council of Flanders in favour of Coxie seven years later. While in Ghent Coxie also painted a ''Resurrection of Christ'' for the monks of the Abbey of

Drongen Drongen (; , ) is a sub-municipality of the city of Ghent located in the province of East Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1977. In 1967, part of the original municipality was already annexed to Ghent. On 1 ...

, which he donated to them in gratitude for their hospitality. Coxie received an annual allocation of 50 florins from the city of Brussels in exchange for putting his talents at the disposal of the Brussels'

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

manufacturers.Bulletins de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux arts de Belgique. Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique. Volume 1884 ser. 3 v. 7, 1834, p. 65-66 He is recorded in 1597 as making, in collaboration with Gilbert van Veen, several portraits commissioned by

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

. There is uncertainty as to whether or when Coxie was appointed court painter to

. Some authors place the date of such appointment during Coxie's stay in Mechelen while others date it to the period after he moved to Brussels in 1586. Coxie married three times and had four children, none of whom followed in his profession. He died in Brussels in 1616. His pupils included Jacob van der Gracht, Andries van Baesrode (I) and

Jacob van der Heyden Jacob van der Heyden (1572–1636) was a Flemish Baroque painter, sculptor and engraver. According to Houbraken he was a painter from Strasbourg who painted for royalty.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 ...

Gaspar de Crayer Gaspar de Crayer or Jasper de CrayerName variations: Caspar de Crayer and Gaspard de Crayer (18 November 1584 – 27 January 1669) was a Flemish painter known for his many Counter-Reformation altarpieces and portraits. He was a court painter ...

was also his apprentice. He possibly also trained his half-brother Michiel II and his nephew Michiel III.

Work

His works are painted in the Italianate style that his father introduced in Flanders after his return from a study period in Italy. As his style was close to that of his father, a number of his works have in the past been attributed to his father. He remained faithful to this style even while the new Baroque movement was emerging. Only a few paintings are currently attributed to him. Although it is known he completed commissions for portraits, no portraits are currently attributed to Coxie. The only work that can be attributed to him with certainty is the ''Last Judgement'' that he painted in the period 1588-89 for the Ghent city magistrate. It hangs now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent. The composition of the painting is quite traditional. Christ is seated on a cloud and surrounded by saints and angels. On the left the blessed are kneeling down while on the right the damned are dragged to hell by satyrs and monsters. The painting incorporates a crouching figure inspired by the statue of the

Crouching Venus The ''Crouching Venus'' is a Hellenistic model of Venus surprised at her bath. Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns her head to the right and, in most versions, reaches her right arm over to her left shoulder to cover he ...

by the famous Greek sculptor

Doidalses The ''Crouching Venus'' is a Hellenistic art, Hellenistic model of Venus (mythology), Venus surprised at her bath. Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns her head to the right and, in most versions, reaches her right arm o ...

. The life-size nudes at the bottom left of the panel are reminiscent of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

, while the upper part representing heaven calls to mind Raphael's work. The

Bonnefanten Museum The Bonnefanten Museum is a museum of historic, modern and contemporary art in Maastricht, Netherlands. History The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum for the Dutch province of Limburg. The name Bonnefanten M ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

holds a ''Crucifixion'' that has tentatively been attributed to Raphael Coxie or

Gillis Mostaert Gillis Mostaert the Elder (27 or 28 November 1528 – 28 December 1598) was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp in the second half of the 16th century.Cornelis Cort Cornelis Cort ( March 1578) was a Dutch engraver and draughtsman. He spent the last 12 years of his life in Italy, where he was known as ''Cornelio Fiammingo''. Biography Born in Hoorn or Edam, Cort may have been a pupil of Dirck Volckertsz ...

after Taddeo Zucceri's treatment of the same subject.Nina D’haeseleer, 2007, p. 74-75

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coxie, Raphael 1540 births 1616 deaths Flemish Renaissance painters Flemish portrait painters Flemish history painters

Painters from Mechelen Painters from Brussels Flemish court painters

Life

Work

References

Further reading

External links