Roelant Savery
Encyclopedia
Roelant Savery (1576 - buried 25 February 1639), was a Flanders
-born Dutch Golden Age
painter.
Savery was born in Kortrijk
. Like so many other artists, he belonged to an Anabaptist
family that fled north from the Spanish-occupied Southern Netherlands
when Roelant was about 4 years old and settled in Haarlem
around 1585. He was taught painting by his older brother Jacob Savery
(c.1565-1603) and Hans Bol
.
After his schooling, Savery traveled to Prague
around 1604, where he became court painter of the Emperors Rudolf II
(1552-1612) and Mathias
(1557-1619), who had made their court a center of mannerist art
. Between 1606-1608 he traveled to Tyrol
to study plants. Gillis d'Hondecoeter
became his pupil.
Before 1616 Savery moved back to Amsterdam, and lived in the Sint Antoniesbreestraat
. In 1618 he settled in Utrecht, where he joined the artist's guild
a year later. His nephew Hans would become his most important assistant.
In 1621 Savery bought a large house on the Boterstraat in Utrecht
. The house had a large garden with flowers and plants, where a number of fellow painters, like Adam Willaerts
were frequent visitors. Savery had kept his house in Amsterdam, and had one child baptized in Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam)
.
Savery was friends with still life
painters like Balthasar van der Ast
and Ambrosius Bosschaert
. In the 1620s he was one of the most successful painters in Utrecht, but later his life got troubled, perhaps because of heavy drinking
. Though he would have pupils until the late 1630s, amongst which Allaert van Everdingen and Roelant Roghman
, he went bankrupt in 1638 and died in Utrecht half a year later.
, often embellished with many meticulously painted animals and plants, regularly with a mythological or biblical theme as background. He also painted multiple flower still lifes; bouquets in stone niches, sometimes with lizards, insects or fallen petals and regarded as his best work.
His unique style of painting, related to the then reigning Mannerism
, has been highly popular with collectors and can be found in many museums in Europe and North America. His preparatory drawings are also valued highly.
Among his best-known works are several depictions of the now-extinct dodo
painted in 1626 and 1628. His nephew Hans a.k.a. Jan Savery
was also known for his paintings of the dodo (including a famous 1651 illustration currently held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
), which he probably copied from his uncle's work.
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
-born Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
painter.
Life
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...
. Like so many other artists, he belonged to an Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
family that fled north from the Spanish-occupied Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
when Roelant was about 4 years old and settled in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
around 1585. He was taught painting by his older brother Jacob Savery
Jacob Savery
-Biography:According to Van Mander in 1604, he was the best pupil of Hans Bol and taught his brother Roelant Savery and Frans de Grebber, then a promising young painter and tapestry worker in Haarlem, how to paint landscapes. He died of the plague in Amsterdam...
(c.1565-1603) and Hans Bol
Hans Bol
Hans Bol , Flemish artist, received his early training from his two uncles who were also painters. He then was the apprentice to a Mechelen watercolorist and tempera painter at the age of fourteen. Because Bol’s watercolors became so widely reproduced, he began creating miniatures on parchment. The...
.
After his schooling, Savery traveled to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
around 1604, where he became court painter of the Emperors Rudolf II
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
(1552-1612) and Mathias
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611...
(1557-1619), who had made their court a center of mannerist art
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
. Between 1606-1608 he traveled to Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
to study plants. Gillis d'Hondecoeter
Gillis d'Hondecoeter
Gillis Claesz. de Hondecoeter or d'Hondecoeter was a Dutch painter, working in a Flemish style, painting landscapes, trees, fowl and birds. Later on d'Hondecoeter painted in a more Dutch, realistic style...
became his pupil.
Before 1616 Savery moved back to Amsterdam, and lived in the Sint Antoniesbreestraat
Sint Antoniesbreestraat
The Sint Antoniesbreestraat is a street in the centre of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The street runs south from Nieuwmarkt square to the Sint Antoniesluis sluice gates....
. In 1618 he settled in Utrecht, where he joined the artist's guild
Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was identified by John of Damascus as having painted the...
a year later. His nephew Hans would become his most important assistant.
In 1621 Savery bought a large house on the Boterstraat in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
. The house had a large garden with flowers and plants, where a number of fellow painters, like Adam Willaerts
Adam Willaerts
Adam Willaerts was a Dutch Golden Age painter.-Biography:Willaerts was born in London to Flemish parents who had fled from Antwerp for religious reasons. By 1585 the family lived in Leiden. From 1597 until his death, Adam lived in Utrecht, where he became a member of the Guild of St...
were frequent visitors. Savery had kept his house in Amsterdam, and had one child baptized in Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam)
Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam)
The Nieuwe Kerk is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam, located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace.-History:The bishop of Utrecht gave the city of Amsterdam permission to use a second the parish church in 1408 because the Oude Kerk had grown too small for the growing population of the city....
.
Savery was friends with still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
painters like Balthasar van der Ast
Balthasar van der Ast
Balthasar van der Ast was a Dutch Golden Age painter who specialized in still lifes of flowers and fruit, as well as painting a number of remarkable shell still lifes; he is considered to be a pioneer in the genre of shell painting. His still lifes often contain insects and lizards...
and Ambrosius Bosschaert
Ambrosius Bosschaert
Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder was a still life painter of the Dutch Golden Age.-Biography:He was born in Antwerp, where he started his career, but he spent most of it in Middelburg , where he moved with his family because of the threat of religious persecution...
. In the 1620s he was one of the most successful painters in Utrecht, but later his life got troubled, perhaps because of heavy drinking
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. Though he would have pupils until the late 1630s, amongst which Allaert van Everdingen and Roelant Roghman
Roelant Roghman
Roelant Roghman was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver.-Biography:Roghman was born in Amsterdam, the son of the engraver Henrick Lambertsz Roghman and Maria Jacobs Savery. His mother was a daughter of the Savery family, and Roghman became a student of his namesake and great-uncle, Roelant...
, he went bankrupt in 1638 and died in Utrecht half a year later.
Works
Savery primarily painted landscapes in the Flemish tradition of Gillis van ConinxlooGillis van Coninxloo
Gillis van Coninxloo was a Dutch painter of forest landscapes, the most famous member of a large family of artists. He travelled through France, and lived in Germany for several years to avoid religious persecution....
, often embellished with many meticulously painted animals and plants, regularly with a mythological or biblical theme as background. He also painted multiple flower still lifes; bouquets in stone niches, sometimes with lizards, insects or fallen petals and regarded as his best work.
His unique style of painting, related to the then reigning Mannerism
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
, has been highly popular with collectors and can be found in many museums in Europe and North America. His preparatory drawings are also valued highly.
Among his best-known works are several depictions of the now-extinct dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
painted in 1626 and 1628. His nephew Hans a.k.a. Jan Savery
Jan Savery
Jan or Hans Savery the Younger was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Though more often referred to as Jan in connection with his best-known painting, he signed his works with Hans, both names being derivatives of Johannes.-Biography:Savery was the son of Jacob Savery and nephew of Hans Savery the...
was also known for his paintings of the dodo (including a famous 1651 illustration currently held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the...
), which he probably copied from his uncle's work.