THULDEN, Theodor van

This is a bozzetto for a huge painting on canvas for the decoration of the town hall in ’s-Hertogenbosch. The painting glorifies the province of North Brabant and its towns as they enter the Union of Utrecht.

Van Thulden’s close contact with Rubens’s work and studio left its mark on his compositional schemes. This is evident in the many political allegories and religious compositions painted for his birthplace, ’s-Hertogenbosch.

In the period 1636-1638 Rubens’s workshop received a large commission to make mythological decorations for the hunting pavilion Torre de la Parada of the Spanish king Philip IV near Madrid. For this project Thulden, together with a number of painters from Rubens’s circle, painted decorations after oil sketches by Rubens.

The artist was influenced by his master, Rubens.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 10 minutes):

Claudio Monteverdi: The Charming Angioletta, madrigal

This painting is characteristic of Thulden’s style in his period in ’s-Hertogenbosch. The figures are recognizable as the sensual types used by Rubens in the 1630s. His soft palette is also derived from Rubens.

At Frederik Hendrik’s death in 1674, his widow, Amalia von Solms, conceived a new plan to honour the life, deeds, and memory of her late husband in the Oranjezaal in her own new palace Huis ten Bosch. Constantijn Huygens would serve as adviser, and Jacob van Campen was commissioned to oversee the execution of the painted decoration. The decorations cover the walls of the cross-shaped central hall with chamfered inner corners from floor to ceiling and were executed by Pieter de Grebber, Salomon de Bray, Caesar van Everdingen, Pieter Soutman, Gerrit van Honthorst, and Jacob van Campen himself. In addition to these Northern Netherlandish artists, several Southern Netherlandish painters were also retained, including Jacob Jordaens, who completed the largest canvas in 1652, Triumph of Frederik Hendrik, and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert and Theodoor van Thulden. With its programmatic mixture of mythology, allegory, and actual historical events, the cycle recalls the glorifying decorative programs that Rubens had painted for the Spanish, French, and English courts.

The picture shows one of the canvases by Thulden on the wall of the Oranjezaal.

At Frederik Hendrik’s death in 1674, his widow, Amalia von Solms, conceived a new plan to honour the life, deeds, and memory of her late husband in the Oranjezaal in her own new palace Huis ten Bosch. Constantijn Huygens would serve as adviser, and Jacob van Campen was commissioned to oversee the execution of the painted decoration. The decorations cover the walls of the cross-shaped central hall with chamfered inner corners from floor to ceiling and were executed by Pieter de Grebber, Salomon de Bray, Caesar van Everdingen, Pieter Soutman, Gerrit van Honthorst, and Jacob van Campen himself. In addition to these Northern Netherlandish artists, several Southern Netherlandish painters were also retained, including Jacob Jordaens, who completed the largest canvas in 1652, Triumph of Frederik Hendrik, and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert and Theodoor van Thulden. With its programmatic mixture of mythology, allegory, and actual historical events, the cycle recalls the glorifying decorative programs that Rubens had painted for the Spanish, French, and English courts.

The picture shows one of the canvases by Thulden on the wall of the Oranjezaal.

Amongst the painter around Rubens, Theodor van Thulden held an important position. Like Rubens, he was skilled in creating large-scale cycles of paintings that expressed the High Baroque both formally and iconographically and he was well-versed in the various allegorical personifications.

The painting shows the strong influence of Rubens and Van Dyck exerted on Van Thulden.