BERGHE, Christoffel van den

(b. ~1590 Antwerpen, d. ~1642 Middelburg)

Flemish painter, active in Middelburg. Little is known about Christoffel van den Berghe’s life. His pictures generally bear the monogram CVB, and his identity was unknown until the 1950s. He seems to have led a fairly isolated existence in Middelburg, and only four of his flower paintings have been identified. He registered in the Guild of St. Luke in Middelburg.

He may have been a pupil of flower painter Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder. In addition to flower pieces, he painted landscapes that recall those of Jan Brueghel the Elder. Records also state that he painted a kitchen scene in 1642. He painted the interior of the church at Middelburg after it was damaged by fire.

Johannes Goedaert (1617–1668) was his pupil.

Flowers in a Porcelain Vase

Though known also as a painter of landscapes, it is his handful of still-lifes that distinguish Van den Berghe above others of his generation. The present flower piece depicts tulips, roses, narcissi, daffodils, crocuses, an iris, a poppy and other flowers in a gilt mounted porcelain vase on a ledge, with a queen of Spain fritillary, a white ermine and a magpie butterfly. The likeness in palette and execution of the present still-life to early Middelburg-period still-lifes by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder is undeniable.

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Winter Landscape

This painting, a winter landscape with ice skaters and an imaginary castle, was formerly attributed to Hendrick Avercamp, the pioneering painter of winter scenes.

Van de Berghe appears to have painted the figures in all his landscape pictures, and they help to distinguish his works from those by other artists. His painting recalls the landscapes by Adriaen van de Venne, who worked in Middelburg during the first quarter of the seventeenth century.

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