Trompe-l’oeil is a special and separate genre, especially in the Northern Netherlands. Using plastic means, such as perspective, light effects and the suggestion of fabric, the artist aims to recreate an illusion of reality. He tries to compete with it and almost succeeds in eliminating the frontier between this reality and his art. Excepting a mention in 1659 as the Master of St Luke’s Guild in Antwerp we do not know much about Cornelis Gijsbrechts. He only painted still lifes and trompe-l’oeils. His four-year stay at the Danish court signified a high point in his career as a trompe-l’oeil painter. The two works, with a curtain in mirror image are probably pendants. The vanitas symbols are quite obvious: the dancing teachers violin, the horn, the empty frame, the hourglass, the almanac and the pistol all refer to the transient nature of earthly pleasures and the transitory nature of life.
| Artist |
Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts
RKD
|
|---|---|
| Title | Trompe-l’œil: Letter Rack with a Kit and Pistol |
| Date | 1664 |
| Period | 17th century |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signature and year bottom centre of the opened almanac: C.N. Gijsbrechts / A° 1664 |
| Collection | paintings AAT |
| Object type | oil paintings (visual works) AAT |
| Inventory number | 1914-IC |
| Acquisition credit |
bequest
Scribe, Fernand Brussels 1913 |
| Current whereabouts | Work on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1914-IC |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/754/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus | 300015638 still lifes AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
23U1
calendar, almanac
Iconclass
31A5311 comb, brush and other tools (care of the hair) Iconclass 41A421 curtains Iconclass 41E still life of miscellaneous objects Iconclass 41E2 'trompe l'oeil' Iconclass 45C16(PISTOLA) firearms (PISTOLA) Iconclass 46E221 letter, envelope Iconclass 47D8(ROPE) tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries: rope Iconclass 48C5156 frame of painting, etc. Iconclass 48C7311 violin, fiddle Iconclass 48C7352 horn, trumpet, cornet, trombone, tuba Iconclass 49L5 writing tools Iconclass 49L63 pen-knife Iconclass 49L641 paper (writing material) Iconclass 49L65 seal, stamp Iconclass 49L651 sealing wax Iconclass |
| School / Style | Baroque AAT |
| Museum van Schoone Kunsten : Catalogus ; Oude Meesters, Schilderstukken, teekeningen, plaatsneden (met geschiedkundig overzicht) / Maurice Dupuis, Georges Charles Nicolas Marie Hulin de Loo, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Drukkerij F. De Vos, 1938 ; Gent : Stad Gent, 1938 (p. 65) |
| 'Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts op Franciskus Gijsbrechts' / Poul Gammelbo. - Copenhagen : [s.n.] : [s.a.] (pp.125-126) |
| Les peintres flamands de trompe-l'oeil et de natures mortes de XVIIième siècle et les sujets de musique / Albert P. De Mirimonde. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 248-249) |
| Trompe l'oeil : The eye deceived / Martin Battersby. - London : Academy Editions, 1974 (p. 158) |
| Illusion in art : Trompe l'oeil ; A history of pictorial illusionism / Marie-Louise D'Otrange Mastai. - New York City : Abaris, 1975 (p. 160-161) |
| Notities bij het schilderij dat Joseph Kosuth gebruikte voor zijn werken 'Cathexis' 18 t.e.m. 30 / Robert Hoozee. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 2, nr. 4) |
| Images of deception : The art of trompe-l'oeil / Celestine Dars. - Oxford : Phaidon, 1979 (p. 36, nr. 25) |
| Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle / Edith Greindl. - Sterrebeek : Editions d'Art Michel Lefebvre, 1983 (p. 358, nr. 15) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Robert Hoozee. - Brussel : Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, 1988 (p. 48, 55) |
| De vrienden van Scribe : De Europese smaak van een Gents mecenas (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 12 december 1998 - 14 maart 1999) / Monique Tahon-Vanroose, Robert Hoozee. - Gent : Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon, 1998 ; Antwerpen : Pandora, 1998 (p. 29) |
| 200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (p. (ill. 32), 269) |
| Musée des Beaux-Arts Gand / Robert Hoozee. - Gand : Ludion, 2000 (p. 48 (ill.)) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. I, p. 33 (ill.), 92-93 (ill.)) |
| Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 46-47 (ill.)) |
| Rubens, Van Dyck and the Splendour of Flemish Painting (exhibition Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, 30.10.2019 - 16.02.2020) / Júlia Tátrai, Ágota Varga, Nikoletta Koruhely, Tamás Balogh, Gert Jan Van der Sman, Ingrid De Meûter. - Budapest : Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest), 2019 (p. 312-313, nr. 88) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021 |
| Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021 |
| onder vrienden : 225 jaar verzamelaars rond het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 25.11.2023 - 28.04.2024) / Johan De Smet, Frederica Van Dam, Willy Van der Gucht, Manfred Sellink. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2023 ; Gent : De Vrienden van het Museum, 2023 (p. 68, cat. 78 (ill.)) |
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