Joos van Winghe
[1] In Germany he enjoyed the patronage of Holy Roman emperor Rudolf II and adopted a more clearly Mannerist style.
[4] Van Winghe spent time in Parma where he reportedly painted a fresco of the Last Supper in the refectory of the monastery of the Servites.
[9] After his return to Brussels in 1568 he became court painter to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, then the governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands.
[7] He left his home country with his family in 1584 after the Fall of Antwerp and his position as court painter was taken up by Otto van Veen.
[10] A painted allegory described by van Mander depicting a chained personification of Belgica, i.e. the Netherlands, supports the view that his emigration was politically motivated.
Van Winghe likely enjoyed the patronage of Holy Roman emperor Rudolf II thanks to his friend Spranger who was court painter.
In the 1590s, van Winghe worked in Frankfurt within the sphere of influence of the artists working at the court of emperor Rudolph II, including the Flemish painter Bartholomeus Spranger, court painter of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, with whom he had collaborated during his period of residence in Rome.
[3][6] Van Winghe painted a number of merry company scenes showing carnivals and nocturnal merry-makings.
[12] Examples are the Elegant company, playing with torchlight and the Tavern scene in the night recently on the art market that are attributed to him.
A painting hanging on the back wall shows the scene of the prodigal son eating pig swill.
[13][14] Van Winghe created a few versions on the theme of a Nocturnal feast and masquerade, also referred to as The house of ill repute.
Finally there is an anonymous painting in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam which differs from the drawing and engraving but is clearly inspired by van Winghe's creation.
On both sides of the larger niche are two plates with Latin texts from the second Book of Wisdom, which point to the need to enjoy life.
The Sadeler engraving carries at the bottom a text from the book of Sirach which warns from the danger of wine, women and prostitutes.
[16][17] Other allegorical works have a political meaning such as the allegory described by van Mander depicting a chained personification of Belgica, i.e. the Netherlands.
[2] The Flemish painter Jacob Hoefnagel who worked at the Rudolphine court painted a miniature version of the story of Apelles and Campaspe, which was inspired by van Winghe's treatment of the subject.
The book was published in 1598 in Frankfurt by Theodor de Bry (who also engraved the prints) and Johann Saur under the title Narratio regionum Indicarum per Hispanos quosdam deuastatarum verissima.
