Golgotha - Louis De Caullery (1580 - 1621) And Workshop

Oil on parqueted oak panel.
It is in a veritable equestrian ballet, where a compact crowd of riders wearing turbans or helmets topped with feathers, that Caullery invites us to witness the terrible sentence inflicted on Jesus and the two thieves. The grace of equines and the richness of fabrics in shimmering colors make us almost forget the drama unfolding before our eyes. Mary and John, at the foot of the cross, converse and only Mary Magdalene, kneeling, seems weeping. The scene is traditionally located on Golgotha (literally "Place of the Skull"), a hill on the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem where those condemned to death were crucified. Golgotha thus becomes the name given to the large compositions which represent the crucifixion of Christ. A genre painter appreciated for his joyful compositions featuring gallant gatherings, carnivals or fireworks, Caullery chose to present this founding event of Christianity with great elegance. In conclusion, with a very personal touch and a new palette in Flanders, the fruit of his meeting with the best Italian masters of his time, Louis de Caullery offers our gaze a real baroque opera.

We have chosen to highlight our Golgotha in a powerful, inverted profile style frame in blackened wood imitating ebony.
Dimensions: 54 x 76 cm - 77 x 98.5 cm

Related works:
Fig. 1: Collection of the art dealer Jean Neger Paris 1957. Audap Mirabaud sale of 03.21.2014 lot 23, 66 x 103 cm (circle of). RKD image
Fig. 2: Sotheby's sale 04.10.2003 lot 12, 52 x 80 cm (attr. To). Image Sotheby's

Louis de Caullery (Caullery 1580 - Antwerp 1621). Born not far from Cambrai, he went to Antwerp in 1593. A year later, he was a pupil of Joos de Momper. Received master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in 1602, he undertook "the journey to Italy" and stopped in Venice, Florence and Rome. During his Italian journey, he would have rubbed shoulders with Adam Elsheimer, Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens in Rome. He returned to Antwerp between 1605 and 1610. His painting is characterized by scenes mixing slender figures with smooth faces and exquisite postures. His color palette is very sophisticated: under the influence of Italian masters, he innovates in Flanders. His representations of buildings are very precise and he is very skilled in perspective.