Georg Flegel

Georg Flegel (* 1566 in Olomouc, † March 23, 1638 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a still life painter of the early 17th century.

Life and work

Probably born in 1566 in the Moravian town of Olomouc, the son of a shoemaker, Flegel worked in a time in which the picture of inanimate objects only slowly broke away from the background of portraits and scenic performances. Flegel painted alike flowers, bird and smoking still life such as meals, sweets and delicacies. Also, some studies from nature in watercolor is among his works.

From the eighties of the 16th century, he worked as a " Bildstaffierer " in Linz workshop of the Dutch painter Lucas van Valckenborch. His task was to auszustaffieren large-scale paintings of panel companies or market scenes with fruits, vegetables and flowers. To 1592/93 van Valckenborch moved his workshop to Frankfurt am Main, where Flegel followed him, until his death in 1638 worked as an independent painter.

With flail his wife Brigitta had come to Frankfurt. In 1594, Martin was the firstborn son of the couple, baptized. On April 28, 1597 Flegel received the right of citizenship in Frankfurt, enabled him by a good testimony of van Valckenborch. By 1600, Flegel began to devote himself to the newly emerging genre of the still life. In this genre he treated a variety of subjects. Repetition and motif acquisitions suggest that he sometimes worked even after economic aspects. Flegel was there - unlike his teacher van Valckenborch - but demonstrated no major operation with labor painting journeymen and assistants. Georg Flegel's only pupil was born 1614 Jacob Marrel, the more learned later in Utrecht by Jan de Heem Davidszoon.

Georg Flegel had seven children he - as well as his wife ( presumably † 1633) - all survived. Two of his sons, Friedrich ( 1596/97-1616 ) and Jacob ( † 1623; probably identical with Leonhard, * 1602), were also painters.

Although Sebastian Stoskopff was influenced by Flegel in the system of composition is not known whether he had known Flegel still alive or if he got the works only after Flegel's death to face. Furthermore, the influence seems " rather sporadic and not last to have been ."

In 2009, the German Post published in the series German painting a stamp in honor Flegel. She has a face value of 45 cents and was designed by Hans Werner Schmidt.