Paul de Vos school

School of PAUL DE VOS (Antwerp, 1591/95 - 1678); 17th century.
"Lioness".
Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
Frame of the 17th century.
Size: 95 x 141 cm; 123 x 170 cm (frame).
Both the theme defined by the presence of a big feline and the treatment of the animal. Placed in the foreground, monumentalised in its form and set in a landscape of ochre tones and an ashen finish, they bring us aesthetically close to the painting of Paul de Vos.
A Flemish painter, brother of Cornelis and Jan, Paul de Vos was one of the leading representatives of the Flemish dynamic still life, along with Frans Snyders. He trained with his brothers under David Remeeus, and became a master around 1620. During his apprenticeship he worked with Snyders himself and his early works are therefore very close to Snyders in both subject matter and motifs. However, throughout his career Paul de Vos incorporated innovative features into his work, with various variations on the hunting scenes, a genre in which he specialised. Like Snyders, Vos was also assisted by his brother Cornelis, who often painted the figures in his paintings. However, Vos was more velvety in his textures than Snyders and was characterised by a greater development of the landscape, particularly in his hunting scenes. He also used a personal chromaticism based on warm tones, ranging from ochres to earthy tones, but lighter and paler than Snyders. His technique is also looser, blurring the contours and rich textures of Snyders in favour of a more atmospheric and diffuse overall appearance. Vos's work is also more dramatic and tense, as he always preferred scenes of great violence, often depicting animal struggles in a bloody and ferocious manner. His images are therefore highly pathetic, particularly in his hunting scenes, which are endowed with a dramatic quality that is also reflected in his illustrations of fables featuring animals. He also took a different approach to the anatomy of animals, depicting them in a less naturalistic manner, with more elongated bodies. Paul de Vos collaborated frequently with other artists, notably Rubens. He depicted the animals in key works by Rubens, such as the "Diana the Huntress" in the Museo del Prado. Rubens' admiration for Vos even led him to acquire eight of his works, which were among his possessions when he died in 1649. He was also associated with Thomas Willeboirts and Adriaen van Utrecht, with whom he collaborated on a number of commissions for Henry of Orange Nassau (1648). He also occasionally worked with Erasmus Quelinus II on works such as the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg). On the other hand, his solo paintings were highly valued by collectors of the period, who particularly appreciated the decorative nature of his scenes and his subject matter, which was highly appreciated by the Flemish and Spanish nobility. Thus, in the early 1630s he executed more than thirty paintings for the Duke of Aarschot when he was in Madrid, and these works were sold on the Madrid market on his death. Among his admirers was also the Marquis of Leganés, and other important Spanish collectors of the period owned numerous paintings by him, including the Marquis of Carpio and the Duke of Salvatierra. King Philip IV himself valued his painting, as many of Vos's works decorated the rooms of the main palaces in Madrid, including the Torre de la Parada. The purchase of several of his works from the merchant Gisbert van Colen by the Emperor Maximilian (1689) is also documented. Today Paul de Vos is represented in major art galleries all over the world, including the Prado Museum, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, etc.