Gillis van Valckenborch

Gillis van Valckenborch or Egidius van Valckenborch (Antwerp 1570 – Frankfurt am Main, end March or 1 April 1622) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman who spent most of his career in Germany. He was a member of the van Valckenborch dynasty of painters who painted mainly landscapes. Unlike his family members, he is mainly known for his large-scale compositions with many swirling figures depicting scenes from ancient history or mythology. While his landscape drawings evidence his interest in landscape art no landscape paintings have been attributed to him.

Gillis van Valckenborch was born into a well-known family of artists. Fourteen known painters are recorded in the family history. Of these, his father Marten van Valckenborch (1535-1612), his brother Frederik van Valckenborch and his uncle Lucas van Valckenborch the elder achieved notable fame as painters. The van Valckenborch family was particularly known in the Spanish Netherlands for landscape painting.

Originally from Leuven, Marten van Valckenborch moved to Antwerp in the 1560s. Like many other families in the region who had become Calvinists, Marten moved with his family from the Spanish-occupied Spanish Netherlands to the more liberal environment of Frankfurt am Main, which was a German imperial outpost. The van Valckenborchs thrived in their new home town, quickly establishing themselves as authorities in the arts. They had an important influence on the artistic developments in Frankfurt am Main.

Gillis van Valckenborch received his earliest training in Antwerp possibly from his brother Frederik. It is believed Gillis and his brother Frederik travelled to Italy in 1590-1592, although there is no evidence for this trip other than a drawing of an Italian landscape by Gillis. On 4 October 1596 or 1597 Gillis van Valckenborch married Barbara van Hilden of Frankfurt. The couple had many children of whom their son Gillis the younger became a painter. Gillis the elder was accepted as a burgher of Frankfurt am Main on 24 February 1597. Just like his brother Frederik he was required to undergo a theological test before he was admitted as a burgher since they were suspected of being Gnesio-Lutherans. He remained active in his adopted hometown where he died.

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