Jozef Geirnaert

The same year’s submission to the Salon 1818 of Brussels entitled "Belgian Officer Introducing to his Family a Comrade in Arms who Ssaved his Life" was also distinguished by a prize.

However, artistic preferences were changing in Belgium with the advent of the historical Romantic school represented by figures of the Academy of Antwerp such as Gustaf Wappers.

In some of his paintings from that time he provided a clear commentary on the events: in "Election in Ghent in 1830" he showed a priest agitating on the street against the Dutch regime.

[3] Examples of work in this style are the Phaedra and Hippolytus (Bowes Museum) and the Finding of Moses (At Lempertz auction in Cologne of 25 May 2017, lot 1502), both dated 1819.

In the Finding of Moses the drapery is depicted in lively colours and the figures are set in an Italianate landscape offering in the background a view on an ancient city.

This reflected the rise of the historical-Romanticism that was in vogue in Belgium from the 1830s which attempted to depict key episodes of Belgian history in a heroic manner.

[2] Geirnaert painted figures in a few landscapes by Adolphe Engel and in a Poultry seller by Jules Joos (Salon 1849 Antwerp).