Theodoor van Thulden

[1] Theodoor van Thulden was born in 's-Hertogenbosch where he was baptized on 9 August 1606 in the St. John's Cathedral as "Dirrick".

His father Jacob Gerits van Tulden (1575–1630) was trained as a silversmith, but earned his living as a cloth merchant.

He first worked on the decorations for the 1635 Joyous Entry (the so-called 'Pompa Introitus') into Antwerp of the new governor of the Habsburg Netherlands Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand.

For the event, van Thulden was commissioned to paint the Arc of Mercury on the Sint-Jansbrug and the Porticus Austriaca on the Meirbrug, for which he received 3500 and 1500 guilders respectively.

The work was only printed in 1641, and van Thulden was compensated by the city council for his loss resulting from the delay in publication.

[5] At least three of the works that van Thulden created for this series have been preserved at the Museo del Prado including Apollo pursuing the nymph Daphne.

He never presented the accounts for the period of his tenure as dean and his decision to leave Antwerp in 1643 may have had something to do with malversations relating to the Guild's funds.

[4] Van Thulden continued to paint altarpieces and other commissions for Catholic patrons in the Southern Netherlands as well as political allegories, many related to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia.

In the period of 1648-1651 he also participated in the decorations for the Oranjezaal in the Huis ten Bosch, The Hague, a commission for Amalia von Solms on which worked Dutch and Flemish artists such as Gerard van Honthorst and Jacob Jordaens.

[5] Van Thulden painted altarpieces, mythological subjects, allegorical works and portraits.

[3] He played an important mediating role by bringing aspects of Flemish Baroque painting into the Dutch Republic.

He is known to have painted Justice and Concord (1646), The Right of the Four-Quarters of the Meierij District to Appeal Before the Court of 's-Hertogenbosch (1647) and The Request for Admission to the Union (1650).