Lot 183: Hendrik de Clerck (? 1570-1630 Brussels)

The Madonna and Child in Glory
oil on copper
7 7/8 x 4 1/4 in. (20 x 10.8 cm.)

Belgian noble collection.

Hendrik de Clerck is one of the generation of late Flemish Mannerists immediately preceding Rubens. He worked alongside such artists as Otto van Veen and Abraham Janssens, and is recorded in Rome in 1587 as working with Frans van de Casteele. It was traditionally thought that his teacher was Marten de Vos, but he probably trained with Joos van Winghe in Italy. He returned to Brussels where he worked as a court painter to the governors of the southern Netherlands, where he was a member of the painter's guild. His eminent position within the guild was affirmed in 1594 when he was appointed court painter in Brussels, first to the new Archduke Ernest and after his death to the new Archduke, Albert and Isabella. He painted a number of large religious compositions for the churches of Brussels including seven altarpieces for the Church of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle. That Hendrik de Clerck was an artist much in demand is also shown by his collaboration with Jan Breughel I for whom he painted the figures in landscapes.

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