"Lambert De Hondt The Old (1620-1665), Orphé Charming Animals."
Lambert de Hondt The former (1620-1665), Orphé charming animals. Canvas 59.5 cm by 44 cm Beautiful carved wooden frame of 78 cm by 62.5 cm Lambert de Hondt The former (1620-1665) Lambert de Hondt the Elder (circa 1620 - before February 10, 1665) was a painter and Flemish draftsman best known for his battle scenes, as well as his genre paintings and landscapes animated by many animals. Only a few details about the life of De Hondt have been preserved. He is registered as working in Mechelen. Since his widow remarried on February 10, 1665, we know that he died before that date. He is sometimes confused with another artist who signed his paintings with L. de Hondt. This other artist, also specialized in battle scenes and making drawings for tapestries around 1700, is called Lambert de Hondt the Younger. It is not known if the two artists were related. De Hondt must have enjoyed a high patronage because one of his paintings (A camp with playing cards soldiers, which is now at the Wellington Museum, Apsley House, London) is marked with a fleur de lis white and originally had a layer of arms in the back. This indicates that the painting was in Elisabeth Farnese's collection. As at the time, he regularly collaborates with other painters. He worked with Willem van Herp on the production of landscapes (painted by De Hondt) with characters (painted by van Herp) such as Noah reuniting his family and the animals on the ark, Orpheus charming animals (our painting), Saint Francis with animals, etc. These paintings have a similar composition and are a variation of the type of what is called the "paradise landscape". The heavenly landscapes represent the Garden of Eden described in the Book of Genesis, filled with all the animals, fish and birds that were believed to be the creation of God. The type was invented and popularized by Jan Brueghel the Younger. Jan Brueghel was employed at the court of Archdukes Albert and Isabella in Brussels, who maintained a large animal menagerie. He was also from Antwerp, a major port city and a commercial center for exotic products and animals from Asia and the New World. Jan Brueghel was therefore in an ideal position to study many species of domestic and exotic animals and include them in his compositions. De Hondt was clearly inspired by the heavenly landscapes of Brueghel, such as Adam de Brueghel's creation and The entry of animals into Noah's ark. of Rubens in the painting Daniel in the Lion's Den. He sometimes painted on copper, a support that offered a perfectly smooth surface allowing the precise detail of paradisiacal paintings.