Jan Baptist Weenix

JAN BAPTIST WEENIX (Netherlands, 1621 – c. 1660).
“Still Life.”
Oil on canvas. Relined.
This work was part of the exhibition “Old Foreign Paintings from Private Collections,” held at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen in October 1946.
Measurements: 79 x 71 cm; 98 x 90 cm (frame).
In this hunting still life, Jan Baptist Weenix combines compositional rigor with extraordinary attention to the qualities and textures of the depicted elements. Particularly noteworthy is the treatment of the grapes, whose clusters—rendered through delicate chromatic gradations and effects of light—reveal the artist’s ability to reproduce the tactile qualities of the subject with great naturalism. The orderly and scenographic arrangement of the elements, together with the richness of its execution, lends the work a remarkable sumptuousness, characteristic of the still-life tradition developed by 17th-century Dutch painting.
The work is also of particular interest due to its exhibition history, as it was part of the exhibition *Old Foreign Paintings from Private Collections*, held in October 1946 at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, one of Denmark’s leading art museums.
The composition is part of the visual language developed by Weenix in his still lifes, characterized by a combination of a carefully studied arrangement and an almost illusionistic treatment of the objects. The painting finds an interesting parallel in *Still Life with Fowl*, held at the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent, where Weenix demonstrates his extraordinary ability to combine meticulous observation of natural elements with a carefully studied composition. Likewise, a comparison with *After the Hunt* (c. 1656), housed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, is particularly significant. This taste for visual richness and the meticulous rendering of surfaces is also found in the work of his son, Jan Weenix II, who continued and developed this family tradition, especially in his celebrated hunting still lifes. Both artists helped to establish a type of still life characterized by its monumental and refined nature, which was highly prized by the aristocracy and major European collectors.
Jan Baptist Weenix trained in Amsterdam under Jan Micker and later under Abraham Bloemaert in Utrecht, completing his apprenticeship in the studio of Claes Cornelisz Moeyaert. In 1643 he traveled to Italy, where he remained for several years and became involved in the Roman art scene, joining the circle of painters known as the Bentvueghels. During his stay, he received commissions from Pope Innocent X. Upon his return to the Netherlands, he was highly productive, specializing in Italianate landscapes, still lifes, and hunting scenes. His work exerted a notable influence on his son, Jan Weenix II, who would also achieve great renown as a still-life painter. His works are held in major international institutions, including the National Gallery in London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Art Institute of Chicago.