"The Fish Sellers", manner of Juan Van der Hamen y León (Madrid, April 8, 1596 - Madrid, March 28, 1631), Spanish ...

"The Fish Sellers", manner of Juan Van der Hamen y León (Madrid, April 8, 1596 - Madrid, March 28, 1631), Spanish school of the 17th century
Oil on oak panel, measurements: 103 x 76 cm, framed measurements: 112 x 85 cm. Juan van der Hamen y León (Madrid, April 8, 1596 - Madrid, March 28, 1631), Spanish baroque painter of the so-called Golden Age, was recognized especially for his still lifes and vases, although he also practiced religious painting, the landscape and the portrait. A versatile painter, influenced by both Juan Sánchez Cotán and the flamenco Frans Snyders in the conception of his first still lifes, and well related to the cultured environments of Madrid, he early adopted the naturalism that came from Italy. He was born in Madrid into a Flemish family belonging to the Dutch aristocracy, originally from Utrecht, and cultured. His father, Jehan van der Hamen, born in Brussels and a faithful Catholic, He had settled in Spain before 1586 and joined the Guard of the Royal Archers, the king's personal guard of Burgundian origin for which nobility was a requirement. His mother, Dorotea Whitman Gómez de León, was in turn descended from a Flemish archer and a woman from Toledo of noble origin. His older brothers, Pedro and Dr. Lorenzo van der Hamen, a canon in Granada, were writers of historical and theological works, and perhaps he himself practiced poetry. Well connected in the cultured circles of Madrid, he maintained friendships with writers such as Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora or the playwright and editor Juan Pérez de Montalbán, who each dedicated him poetic praise. Like his father and grandfather before him, in January 1623 he joined the Flemish archery guard, More or less honorably charged with protecting the king since the time of Charles V. Provenance: property of a collector, Madrid. Reference bibliography: Jordan, William B. (2005) Juan van der Hamen y León and the Court of Madrid, Madrid, National Heritage, exhibition catalogue. ISBN 84-7120-387-1.