Carel I Van Mander (1548–1606)

Oil on oak panel. Expert Analysis: Dr. Klaus Ertz, Lingen Karel van Mander was an important Dutch painter who studied under Lucas de Heere in Ghent. He was also a translator and poet – he compiled a valuable dictionary of painters, including contemporary artists. From 1573 to 1577 van Mander lived in Rome, where he met with Bartholomeus Spranger, then in 1583, he moved to Haarlem, where he founded a school of painting together with Hendrik Goltzius and Cornelis Cornelisz. Karel van Mander introduced his many students, among them Frans Hals, to Italian Mannerism, which may be how it reached the court of Rudolf II in Prague. From 1604, Mander lived in Amsterdam. The painting presents an expressive multi-figural composition using earthy tones. The scene takes place in a natural setting with trees, shrubs and architecture and an impressive stone gate decorated with a lion’s head and two figures of angels. In the background, a city and mountain peaks are suggested.