The Vision of the Blessed Hermann Joseph or The Mystical Engagement of the Blessed Hermann Joseph to the Virgin Mary is a 1629-1630 painting by the Flemish Baroque painter Anthony van Dyck.
The painting depicts Hermann Joseph, a Premonstratensian canon and priest from the Cologne region. He had a devotion to the Virgin Mary and according to legend had several visions of her during his lifetime – the painting shows one of these, in which he was joined in a mystic marriage to her and received the name 'Joseph' after her spouse Saint Joseph [1] Produced for a chapel in Saint Ignatius Church in Antwerp (as had Coronation of Saint Rosalia the previous year), it is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. [2]
The painting was one of several commissioned from van Dyck by the Jesuit sodality in Antwerp, of which he had become a member in 1628. [3] It seems to have been influenced by The Vision of Saint Francis Xavier by the Antwerp painter Gerard Seghers and by Rubens's Saint Teresa of Ávila's Vision of the Holy Spirit – van Dyck had been working as Rubens' studio assistant and pupil since returning to Antwerp in 1627 after eight years in Italy, including work on a series of paintings for Saint Carolus Borromeus church. [4]
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy.
Frans Snyders or Frans Snijders was a Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, market scenes, and still lifes. He was one of the earliest specialist animaliers and he is credited with initiating a wide variety of new still-life and animal subjects in Antwerp. He was a regular collaborator with leading Antwerp painters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens.
Hendrick van Balen or Hendrick van Balen I was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper support. His favourite themes were mythological and allegorical scenes and, to a lesser extent, religious subjects. The artist played an important role in the renewal of Flemish painting in the early 17th century and was one of the teachers of Anthony van Dyck.
Jan van den Hoecke was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and designer of wall tapestries. He was one of the principal assistants in Rubens' studio in the 1630s. He later traveled to Italy where he resided for a decade in Rome. He subsequently worked as a court painter in Vienna and Brussels. Jan van den Hoecke was a versatile artist who created portraits as well as history and allegorical paintings.
Flemish Baroque painting was a style of painting in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period roughly begins when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south with the Spanish recapturing of Antwerp in 1585 and goes until about 1700, when Spanish Habsburg authority ended with the death of King Charles II. Antwerp, home to the prominent artists Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens, was the artistic nexus, while other notable cities include Brussels and Ghent.
Jan Boeckhorst or Johann Bockhorst was a German-born Flemish Baroque painter and draughtsman. He was a versatile artist who produced history paintings, genre scenes and portraits in a style influenced by the trio of leading Baroque painters in Antwerp Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens. Boeckhorst also worked as a designer of cartoons for tapestries.
Theodoor Boeyermans, Theodor Boeyermans or Theodor Boeijermans was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp who painted Baroque history paintings and group portraits informed by the tradition of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.
Daniël Seghers or Daniel Seghers was a Flemish Jesuit brother and painter who specialized in flower still lifes. He is particularly well known for his contributions to the genre of flower garland painting. His paintings were collected enthusiastically by aristocratic patrons and he had numerous followers and imitators.
Isabella Brant was the first wife of the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, who painted several portraits of her.
Pieter van Avont or Peter van Avont, (1600–1652) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and printmaker known for his religious scenes and cabinet paintings often including nude children and putti. Van Avont was a frequent collaborator with many leading painters in Antwerp.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and of frontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp.
Jan van Balen was a Flemish painter known for his Baroque paintings of history and allegorical subjects. He also painted landscapes and genre scenes.
Jan Baptist Barbé or Jan-Baptist Barbé (1578–1649) was a Flemish engraver, publisher and art dealer active in Antwerp. He is known for his engravings after his own designs as well as for his reproductive engravings.
Paulus Pontius was a Flemish engraver and painter. He was one of the leading engravers connected with the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens. After Rubens' death, Pontus worked with other leading Antwerp painters such as Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens.
Cornelis van der Geest was a spice merchant from Antwerp, who used his wealth to support the Antwerp artists and to establish his art collection. He was also the dean of the haberdashers guild.
Despite its size, Belgium has a long and distinguished artistic tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages, considerably pre-dating the foundation of the current state in 1830. Art from the areas making up modern Belgium is called in English Netherlandish up to the separation with the Netherlands from 1570 on, and Flemish until the 18th century.
Helena Fourment or Hélène Fourment was the second wife of Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. She was the subject of a few portraits by Rubens, and also modeled for other religious and mythological paintings.
Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary, St John and St Mary Magdalene is a painting by Anthony van Dyck. He produced it in 1617-19 as the high altarpiece for the Jesuit church in Bergues, near Dunkirk, during his time as an assistant painter to Peter Paul Rubens - for a long time the painting was even attributed to Rubens. It was paid to Rubens in 1621 and seems to have been sold around 1746. It was bought by Louis XV of France in Antwerp in 1749 to be the high altarpiece of Saint-Louis de Versailles at the Palace of Versailles. It is now in the Louvre, in Paris.
St Martin Dividing his Cloak is a painting by the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck dated around 1618, which is an altarpiece in the Sint-Martinuskerk in Zaventem, Belgium. The painting portrays the story of Saint Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar. This early work of van Dyck was painted when he was strongly influenced by Rubens's style.
The Coronation of Saint Rosalia or Madonna and Child with Saints Rosalia, Peter and Paul is an oil on canvas painting made by Anthony van Dyck in 1629.