Theodoor Rombouts
Theodoor Rombouts (2 July 1597 – 14 September 1637) was a Flemish painter who is mainly known for his Caravaggesque genre scenes depicting lively dramatic gatherings as well as religiously themed works.
In 1635 Rombouts collaborated with other artists on the programme of the decorations of the Joyous Entry of Cardinal-infante Ferdinand in Antwerp, which was under the general direction of Rubens.
His profane works depict merry companies, musicians, card players, as well as some of the other Caraveggesque themes such as the denial of St Peter and the five senses.
He also painted a few religious and mythological works on horizontal canvases, as is the case with Christ Driving the Money-changers from the Temple (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp).
[9] His initial works were in the idiom of his master Abraham Janssens who was one of the earliest Flemish artists to paint in a Caraveggio influenced style combined with strong Classicist tendencies.
The typically Italian costumes, the rather mannered poses, the vague indication of space and stereotypical rendering of heads, hands and drapery point to a style preceding that of the genre scenes he painted after 1625.
His work during this period is characterised by the use of chiaroscuro, the horizontal format and a pronounced modelé that sometimes looks sculptural and that points to the influence of his master Abraham Janssens.
His use of diagonals in the composition and perspectival abbreviation, the illusive use of foreshortening and the avoidance of a conventional backdrop are prominent in a work such as the Card players (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp).
[8] Rombouts was the first Flemish painter who, like Gerrit van Honthorst in the Dutch Republic, painted single male or female musicians.
Rombouts's Lute player (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, 1620s) is a good example of the influence of Manfredi and Valentin de Boulogne on the Flemish Caravaggisti.
Other Flemish painters such as Jacob Jordaens, Gonzales Coques, Jan Cossiers and Gillis Remeeus would later also adopt the type of the single musician.
This late style approaches the later work of Rubens, with whom he collaborated in the realization of the decorations for the Joyous Entry of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in Antwerp in 1635.
