Cornelis de Wael

Cornelis de Wael (Antwerp, 1592 – Rome, 1667) was a Flemish painter, engraver and merchant who was primarily active in Genoa in Italy.

In 1627 Cornelis became a member of the Accademia di San Luca, the prestigious association of artists in Rome which had very strict admission criteria.

[4] The workshop of the brothers de Wael in Genoa became the centre of the colony of Flemish artists who resided in or passed through the city.

The brothers provided a home, materials and tools, they assisted their compatriots with their local integration, passed on recommendations to clients and formulated competition rules.

This is the case of the marine painter Andries van Eertvelt who is documented in Genoa from 1628 to 1630, where he lived with de Wael and became his collaborator.

[5][6] Van Dyck painted a Portrait of the brothers de Wael (Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome) that was later engraved by Wenceslas Hollar.

The Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Younger stayed with the brothers de Wael in Genoa from October until December 1622.

His patrons included the rich patricians of the Government of the Republic of Genoa as well as Philip III of Spain and Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg.

Contemporary reports describe an impressive funeral attended by about 400 Flemish artists that formed part the Roman painters' colony.

Two lost portrait paintings of a 32-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, which appeared in an 1873 sale in Paris, were reportedly signed and dated 1637.

[13] The Portrait of Luca Giustiniani, Doge of the Republic of Genoa (Musée de Bastia) that was formerly attributed to him has been re-attributed to his pupil Jan Hovaert.

The British Museum holds a series of 19 prints depicting genre scenes published by Martinus van den Enden the Elder in Antwerp.