Dominicus Claessens

Dominicus Claessens (c. 1635 – c. 1690) was a Flemish still life painter and engraver.[1]

Still life of fruit and musical instruments on a draped table

Life

Very little is known about Claessens' life. He was likely born in Antwerp around 1631 as on 4 July 1674 he declared (as a witness) to be 'ontrent 43 jaeren' (around 42 years old).[1] He became a master in the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp in 1660–1661.[2]

Work

He was active as a still life painter and reproductive printmaker. He made engravings for David Teniers the Younger's Theatrum pictorium, a catalog of 243 Italian paintings in the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria's collection of over 1300 paintings kept at his residence in Brussels. One of these engravings depicting a Virgin and Child accompanied by St John and an Angel after a painting by Giulio Cesare Procaccini was included by Joseph Strutt in his 1786 dictionary of engravers. Strutt was critical about Claessens' inaccurate execution of the print.[3]

Virgin and Child accompanied by St John and an Angel, engraving after Giulio Cesare Procaccini

Guild membership granted him the right to sign and date his paintings. A Still life of fruit and musical instruments on a draped table is signed and dated 1665.[4]

References
  1. Dominicus Claessens in the RKD
  2. CLAESSENS, Dominicus - Painter in Bénézit
  3. "... a coarse, incorrect etching, representing the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ, accompanied by St. John and an angel, a small upright plate from Procaccini: it is without date, and marked, D. Clasens F. et de." in Strutt's dictionary of engravers, 1786
  4. Still life of fruit and musical instruments on a draped table in the RKD, dated 1655
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