Ferdinand de Braekeleer

FERDINAND DE BRAEKELEER (Antwerp, 1792-1883).
"The seamstress".
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower margin.
Measurements: 39 x 46 cm; 57 x 65 cm (frame).

In this painting, Ferdinand de Braekeleer adopts a more intimate and calm tone than in his burlesque scenes of tavern, focusing the attention on a young seamstress that sews in the interior of calm atmosphere. The main room, paved with a checkered floor, is softly lit from a side window, highlighting the textures of the fabric, the brightness of the furniture and the girl's serene expression. Beside her, an older man with a kindly countenance leans slightly towards her, while a dog rests in the foreground, completing the domestic atmosphere.

In the background, through an open door, a second room can be glimpsed with customers seated around a table, engaged in conversation, which expands the spatial depth and reinforces the narrative character of the scene. Fragments of the outside world (profiles of houses, human figures) are visible through the windows, connecting the interior with village life.

De Braekeleer demonstrates here his compositional mastery and his ability to articulate different planes of action within a coherent space. The work stands out for its complex and balanced composition, its delicate use of light and the descriptive precision of the Flemish interiors, elements that make this scene a vivid and credible example of nineteenth-century Belgian costumbrismo.

Ferdinand de Braekeleer was an outstanding Flemish painter and engraver, known especially for his genre scenes of everyday life, as well as for his historical, religious and urban landscape paintings. He is called "the Old Man" to distinguish him from his son, also a painter.

Born into a humble family in Antwerp in 1792, he was orphaned and was admitted to the school for poor children established by the painter Mattheus Ignatius van Bree. He continued his training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where van Bree was also a teacher. In 1813 he won the painting prize at the Antwerp Salon with the work Aeneas Saving Anchises from the burning of Troy. In 1819 he won the Dutch Prix de Rome in the category of historical painting, which allowed him to travel to Italy (Rome, Naples, Venice) to perfect his art.

After his return to Antwerp, he focused on works inspired by the Flemish Old Masters, including historical and genre scenes reminiscent of artists such as Jan Steen and David Teniers the Younger. His painting "The Antwerp Citadel after the Bombardment of 1832" won him wide recognition for its contemporary subject matter.
In 1827 he married Marie-Thérèse Leys, sister of the painter Jan August Hendrik Leys, who later studied with him. Two of his sons, Ferdinand the Younger and Henri de Braekeleer, also became painters. He achieved international recognition with works such as The Schoolmistress and The 50th Wedding Anniversary. He was made a knight of the Order of Leopold and a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium. He was a co-founder of the Antwerp Artists' Association and, from 1855, became a professor at the Antwerp Academy. In 1864 he was appointed curator of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. De Braekeleer played a pivotal role in the renewal of 19th-century Belgian painting, both through the high quality of his genre works and through his influential role as teacher of the next generation of artists. He died in Antwerp in 1883 at the age of 91.