SCHUT, Cornelis I

Flemish painter, draughtsman and engraver, active in Italy and Antwerp. His early works show the influence of Abraham Janssens, but during his Italian sojourn during the 1620s he adopted elements of the High Baroque style of Pietro da Cortona, Guercino and classical tendencies informed by Domenichino and Guido Reni. While in Rome, he was also a founding member of the Schildersbent (the group of Netherlandish artists active in Rome at that time).

Schut must also have belonged to the circle of Vincenzo Giustiniani in Rome; two of his early works, the Adoration mentioned above and the Massacre of the Innocents (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen) were in Giustiniani’s collection. During these years Schut also painted small-scale works depicting allegorical and mythological themes, perhaps intended for the open market. In 1628 he was in Florence, where he designed tapestries for the Arazzeria Medicea.

Schut adopted, and retained throughout his career, the new High Baroque style of painting, developed in Italy after 1625 under the influence of such artists as Pietro da Cortona. Features of this style include a strong sense of animation and pathos, in which light and colour play a major role. Elements of late Mannerism are also evident, and Schut’s style, which is characterized by fierce foreshortening, sharp light contrasts and extreme facial expressions, bears some affinity with the work of Federico Barocci, which was important in the evolution of Baroque painting.