Louis de Caullery's workshop, 17th century

Antwerp School of the first half of the seventeenth century.
Workshop of LOUIS DE CAULLERY (Caullery, ca. 1580- Antwerp, 1621).
"Calvary".
Oil on panel.
Cradled.
Measurements: 68,5 x 95 cm; 82,5 x 110 cm (frame).

The scene that we show is conceived as an imposing theatrical scenography, following closely the models established by the painter Louis de Caullery. It is a work belonging to the circle of this Flemish painter, a workshop work. The concomitances can be appreciated by comparing, for example, this painting with Caullery's "The Crucifixion" preserved in the Prado Museum. The lavish atmosphere of the multiple characters, their courtly treatment, the brilliant coloring and the expressive zigzagging movements of the crucified (the body of Christ and the thieves) is very similar in both paintings. The backlighting is sublime, as well as the forest of spears of the soldiers propping up the sky and the touches of color in the illuminated areas (the silver helmets, the fur of the horses...) indebted to the Venetian school. A break of amber-colored glory throws orange flashes on the crowds. The characters have been worked on two levels: individually in clothing and gestures, but also as a whole, with the intention of denoting a multitudinous effect. In short, it is a painting worthy of Caullery's workshop, which manages to subjugate us by its dramatic force.

Louis de Caullery was a painter of French origin who in 1594 began his artistic training in Caullery as an apprentice of Joos de Momper in the guild of St. Luke, in which he enrolled as a master in the course 1602/1603. Despite his training at Momper's side, Caulery's work is closer to Mannerist sophistication than to Baroque naturalism. He was clearly influenced by some of the engravings of Hans Vredeman de Vries, mainly, from whom he took the whimsical architectural backgrounds. His work also shows similar characteristics to the painting of the artist Frans Francken II, which can be seen especially in the anatomical treatment of the figures, although in Caulery etas, they are always represented as a volumetric and massive aesthetic, both in the court scenes, as in the allegorical ones, which form the most interesting part of his production. Regarding the religious scenes, he made a large production, headed by the Calvary motif, which he repeated on numerous occasions.