REYMERSWAELE, Marinus van

The bookstand holds a tome open to a page showing the Last Judgment, which alludes to Jerome’s meditations on the end of earthly existence. The exaggerated shapes of his hands are characteristic of Reymerswaele’s figures.

This version of St Jerome in his study was executed in the studio of Reymerswaele.

Marinus van Reymerswaele, a Calvinist from Zeeland, was studying in Antwerp at the time when Quentin Massys was the undisputed leader of the city’s painters. In his Saint Jerome Van Reymerswaele - realist, mannerist and even expressionist - carried on the tradition of Massys’ genre works in a picturesque, precious and almost caricature fashion.

Reymerwaele specialized in genre scenes of bankers, usurers, misers, and tax-collectors. The genre scenes show the sin of avarice and the vanity of earthly possessions; according to a Flemish proverb a banker, a usurer, a tax-collector, and a miller were the four evangelists of the devil. These paintings must have been very popular, for they exist in numerous versions and copies, but it is not known what kind of clientele bought pictures of such unpleasant characters, grotesquely presented in a manner deriving (via Quentin Massys) from Leonardo’s caricatures.

Marinus van Reymerswaele painted several replicas of the Calling of Matthew. The first version is now in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, while the Ghent version is dated 17 May 1536 (on the scroll behind Matthew). The theme of the work is religious, but the focus on the profusion of objects looks forward to the realism of secular painting in the second half of the 16th century.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 8 minutes):

Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion BWV 244 (excerpts)

Flemish Mannerist painter who was influenced by Quentin Massys.

Marinus van Reymerswaele, a Calvinist from Zeeland, was studying in Antwerp at the time when Quentin Massys was the undisputed leader of the city’s painters. In his Tax Collectors, Van Reymerswaele - realist, mannerist and even expressionist - carried on the tradition of Massys’ genre works in a picturesque, precious and almost caricature fashion.

Genre compositions depicting moneychangers, usurers, or merchants became common in 16th-century Netherlandish painting. In contrast to Quentin Massys, who pioneered the theme, Reymerswaele gives his personages satirically pointed, almost grotesque features. The archaic elements in their dress may have been a traditional indicator of their occupation. The many repetitions of the subject (more than 30 variants are known) indicate that it was popular and in enduring demand.

The painting represents the tax collector of the city of Reymerswale and his financial surety.