Dirck van Baburen

Dirck van Baburen (* 1595 in Utrecht (Netherlands), † 1624 also in Utrecht) was a Dutch painter of religious motives, history pieces and genre scenes. He was one of the followers of Caravaggio and is known as one of the Utrecht Caravaggists.

Life

After studying painting in Utrecht (along with Paul Moreelse, a portrait and history painter) he traveled in 1612 to Rome, where his style came strongly under the influence of the work of the Italian painter Caravaggio, whose dramatising shades of light and dark he particularly intriguing found.

His most important work is created in Italy which features a chapel of the church of San Pietro in Montorio in Rome ( 1615-1620 ). He took this job out together with his friend and colleague David de Haen.

Returned to Utrecht in 1620, Baburen shared his studio with Hendrick ter Brugghen ( 1622-1623 ). Although he died in 1624 he founded together with Honthorst and Ter Brugghen the reputation of Utrecht as a stronghold of Caravaggio - style. The artists of Utrecht took over Caravaggio's chiaroscuro shading and its realism. How Caravaggio, who often painted ordinary manual workers, they preferred models with weathered faces and portrayed them often larger than they were.

Importance

Baburen especially appreciated genre scenes ( topics of everyday life ) as his best-known work, The Matchmaker ( 1622, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ) shows. This image is seen as a presentation of two paintings by Vermeer, whose mother owned it apparently.

The matchmaker

Young boy playing the Jew's harp

Cimon and Pero

A certain rusticity of the presentation as well as irregular composition instead of atmospheric quality distinguishes the art Baburen of his better known contemporaries. Served Even in his mythological and religious motifs everyday perceptions as role models, as can be seen the Prometheus Painting - Baburen shifted the scene in a forge of his time.