Cornelis Schut

Cornelis Schut (13 May 1597 – 29 April 1655)[1] was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer who specialized in religious and mythological scenes.

[1] From 13 January 1627 he worked on frescoes in the villa "Casino Pescatore" located in Frascati, owned by Giorgio Pescatori (aka Pieter de Vischere), a wealthy Italian banker and patron of Flemish descent.

Another important patron in Rome was the aristocratic Italian banker and art collector Vincenzo Giustiniani who commissioned two large religious compositions from him (now in the Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, Caen).

His jail time was short as on 2 October he was already released thanks to the intervention of the Accademia di San Luca, the association of artists in Rome.

In particular his ability to produce ceiling decorations in the monumental Italian style, with its typical illusionistic character, was regarded highly by patrons in his home country.

[2] Schut played a prominent role in the decorative project at the occasion of the Royal Entry of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635 in both Antwerp (where Rubens was in charge of the overall artistic design) and Ghent.

Schut and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert were invited to submit for this competition a painting on the subject of the martyrdom of St George.

[1][4] Schut was a versatile artist who produced oil paintings, frescos, engravings, drawings and tapestry cartoons.

During his Italian sojourn in Rome during 1624 and Florence in 1627 he adopted elements of the High Baroque style of Pietro da Cortona, Guercino and classical tendencies informed by Domenichino and Guido Reni.

This style is characterized among other things by a strong sense of animation and pathos, in which light and color play an important role.

Schut's style, which is characterized by strong foreshortening, sharp contrasts of light and extreme facial expressions has some affinity with the work of Federico Barocci, who played a major role in the evolution of baroque painting.

Schut's skill in interpreting the themes of the Counter-Reformation led to many commissions for altarpieces in churches and monasteries in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges and Cologne.

[4] Schut created some very inventive designs on mythological and allegorical subjects in his cartoons for the Seven Liberal Arts, a series of tapestries.

Garland paintings are a type of still life invented in Antwerp and whose earliest practitioner was Jan Brueghel the Elder.

For instance, he made a series of etchings on the theme of the liberal arts which are similar to his designs for cartoons on the same subject.