- 159
Frederik van Valckenborch
Description
- Frederik van Valckenborch
- Belshazzar's feast
- signed and dated lower centre: 1596 / FRE: VAN: VA: / LKENBORCH
- oil on canvas
Provenance
Catalogue Note
This well preserved, signed and dated, early work is an exciting new addition to Valckenborch's oeuvre. As well as painting landscapes, which he would have studied under the guidance of his father Marten (1534-1612), Valckenborch also specialised in figure paintings. The subject, which is taken from Daniel 5, was treated on another occasion by the artist and is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. no. 2333 (150 by 203.5 cm). Both works are marked by strong diagonals and a steep recession towards the background. As is typical of Valckenborch's work, the foreground is busy and the figures are marked by a late-Mannerist attention to form. The composition is different from the print by Jan Harmensz. Muller made in 1598 and better than the numerous copies made subsequent to its publication in 1598.1
Valckenborch spent some time in Venice where he was inspired by the Venetian love of festivals and carnivals to paint a series of depictions of night time revelries. He seemed to particularly enjoy the dramatic possibilities of the night time candlelit scene and as such a scene the present painting, despite its biblical subject matter, has much in common with his Venetian works (see for example the painting sold New York, Sotheby's, 11 January 1996, lot 63). As well as scenes of Venetian merriment and biblical narratives Valckenborch also used the same dramatic palette to paint The Fall of Troy, sold Philips, London, 2 December 1997, lot 44.
1. J.P. Filedt Kok and H. Stroomberg, The New Hollstein. The Muller Dynasty, Amsterdam 1999, part II, p. 43.