Gillis Mostaert

Gillis Mostaert (I) (1528 – 28 December 1598) was a Flemish Renaissance painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp in the second half of the 16th century. He was a prolific artist who worked in various genres including landscape, genre and history painting and regularly collaborated with leading Antwerp artists.

Gillis Mostaert was born in Hulst. According to the early artist biographer Karel van Mander Gillis Mostaert was the son of a common painter, the twin brother of the painter Frans Mostaert and the grandson of the painter Jan Mostaert. While his brother Frans became a pupil of the landscape painter Herri met de Bles, Gillis studied landscape painting with Jan Mandijn. Van Mander recounts that both brothers joined the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1555. However, since Frans received a registered pupil in 1553 it is more likely that Frans had become a master in the Guild earlier.

He married Margareta Baes in 1563 and the couple had six children. He was well-respected by his fellow painters. The painters Pieter Balten and Crispin van den Broeck were godfathers to his children born in 1571 and 1588. Inventories of art collections from his time show that his work received patronage of well-off private clients since they contained many expensive cabinet paintings of Mostaert.

He died in Antwerp. It is believed that he was heavily indebted at the time of his death and that the contents of his workshop was sold off or distributed to creditors to pay off these debts.

Very few works can be attributed with certainty to Gillis Mostaert as he signed few of his paintings. He likely operated a large workshop with an important output of work. He seems to have worked mainly for private clients to whom he supplied pictures in a wide range of subjects including market, fair and village scenes, the four seasons, winter landscapes, scenes of war, hell and fire images, religious subjects as well as parables and allegories. He is believed to have played an important role in the development in Antwerp of genre and landscape art characterized by its depiction of many small figures. To him is attributed the introduction into genre scenes of the Mannerist style of representing the human figure that was typical for the Antwerp Mannerists of the Frans Floris School.

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