Abraham Bloemaert

Abraham Bloemaert had one of the longest and most varied careers in Dutch art. He began in the twisting, elongated Mannerist style of the 1590s, with muscular figures in dramatic poses, and ended painting soft, classical biblical scenes and rustic landscapes with tumbledown farmhouses. His colour is bright and his drawing always elegant.

Born in Gorinchem in 1566, he trained in Utrecht and in Paris and settled in Utrecht, where he helped found the painters’ guild in 1611. He was the city’s most important teacher: Hendrick ter Brugghen and Gerrit van Honthorst, who led the Utrecht followers of Caravaggio, came from his studio, as did Jan Both and his own four painter sons. He also painted for Utrecht’s hidden Catholic churches. He died in 1651, aged 84.

His Adoration of the Magi and Adoration of the Shepherds show the warm, lively crowd scenes he did so well.