TOORENVLIET, Jacob - b. 1640 Leiden, d. 1719 Oegstgeest - WGA

TOORENVLIET, Jacob

(b. 1640 Leiden, d. 1719 Oegstgeest)

Dutch painter, one of the Leiden “Fijnschilders” (“Fine Painters”). He was a painter of portraits and crowded, vivacious genre scenes. His works are characterised by a strong contrast of light and dark, in spite of their overall cool greyishness.

Toorenvliet was trained by his father Abraham, a glass painter and draughtsman working in Leiden. In 1670 he went to Rome where he joined the Schildersbent, the society of Dutch and Flemish painters living there. He is recorded as living in Venice in 1673, and, from 1676 until 1679, in Vienna, and there is also documentary evidence of his presence in Leiden and Amsterdam in 1680.

As of 1686 Toorenvliet was a member of the Leiden Academy of Painting, and in 1703 he was mentioned as its Dean. He was one of the founders of the Leiden Academy of Drawing in 1694, and in 1712 he was appointed Professor of Drawing. In 1717 he was registered in the guild books as ‘informator pingendi.’

A Fish Seller

The painting is signed lower centre.

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A Man Courting a Woman Selling Game

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A Vegetable Seller

The painting is signed and dated lower right: J Toorenvliet F 167(?).

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Allegory of the Arts

This panel depicts a female figure, the personification of Painting, being crowned with laurel leaves, a traditional symbol of the arts, by the male personification of Poetry.

Toorenvliet’s work is rooted in the traditions of the Leiden school of painting. The so-called fijnschilders (fine-painters), specialised in scenes full of minute detail, executed in a highly polished style. Toorenvliet’s teacher, Dou, was the biggest influence on the style, and artists such as Toorenvliet and Frans van Mieris the Elder, were among its most successful practitioners.

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An Allegory on Harmony

This painting depicts three elegantly dressed persons, two young ladies and a man, who are making music. One of the ladies is playing a cittern, that rests on her right knee. In the lap of the other rests a rectangular shaped book with sheet music. In his right hand, the man holds a flute. They are seated outdoors near a sculpted fountain which shows remarkable similarities to the Fontana del Tritone, a fountain executed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and located in the Piazza Barberini in Rome.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 5 minutes):

Alessandro Stradella: Sinfonia avanti il Barcheggio

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An Elegant Company Drinking Tea

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Banquet in the Open Air

The red curtain at the right, from behind which we see an uninvited guest thoughtfully observing the banquet, brings a theatrical effect to the depiction.

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Fish Market

The picture shows a fishmonger at the fish market.

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Flirting Couples

The painting depicts flirting couples in front of a slaughtered pig.

Jacob Toorenvliet was a genre painter, who occasionally also painted portraits and history subjects. He painted this canvas in his Leiden years, when his production became more anecdotal, the scenes populated with more figures and the poses of the various characters more humorous. Toorenvliet loved representing flirting people and he regularly painted market scenes. In the painting he successfully managed to combine both in a composition under the theatrical arch of an Italianate farmhouse.

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