Dirck van Delen

Heusden 1605 – Arnemuyden 1671

A Noble Family and its Entourage in a Palace Courtyard, a Group of Men playing a Ball Game beyond

Dated ‘1631′ | On plinth lower left
Oil on panel
H. 36,5 cm. W 49,5 cm.

LITERATURE
Blade, T. T. (1976). The Paintings of Dirck van Delen. Dissertation. University of Minnesota. Ann Arbor

CATALOGUE NOTE
Dirck van Delen was one of the most inspired practitioners of 17th-century Dutch architectural painting. He was possibly a pupil in Delft of Pieter van Bronckhorst (1588–1661) and/or of Bartholomeus van Bassen (ca. 1590–1652), who also painted architectural fantasies. He lived with his parents in Breda, is mentioned in Middelburg, where he married in 1625, and then moved to nearby Arnemuiden. There he became master of the toll-house, and served frequently on the town council, mostly as burgomaster, from 1628 until his death. He is recorded as a member of the Middelburg painters’ guild from 1639 until 1665. He devoted his entire artistic career to painting architectural subjects. His rich palette and highly refined technique brought him enormous success during his lifetime, and he became the most influential force for the following generation of architectural painters in Antwerp. This monumental view of an imaginary and fantastical palace courtyard is a fine example of Van Delen’s architectural painting dating to the early 1630’s.

The 1630s were the high point of Van Delen’s career. He depicted exuberant palace exteriors with enormous courtyards populated by elegant figures. His palette lightened and he included much imaginary sculpture, reflecting the Flemish Late Baroque style of architecture. The present work, dated 1631, compares closely with a group of paintings depicting opulent baroque architectural settings inhabited by elegant figures, dating to the 1630’s, such as the Architectural fantasy, in the National Gallery, London (dated 1634) and An elaborate architectural capriccio with Jepthah and his daughter (dated 1633) sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 26 January 2006, as lot 2. Van Delen drew inspiration and even borrowed motifs from the graphic work of Hans and Paul Vredeman de Vries. He often worked together with figure painters, such as Jan Olis and – as in the present example – Anthonie Palamedesz., who animated the picture plane with figures which almost became the focus of the painting. T.T. Blade (Diss. University of Minnesota, 1976) dates the picture to the early 1630’s and gives the execution of the figures to Anthony Palamedesz.