Wolfgang Heimbach

Essay:

Wolfgang Heimbach was a mute and deaf painter from North Germany and was probably born in Oldenburg. Heimbach travelled extensively in Holland, Germany and Italy, and spent much of his career in Denmark. It is thought he met Gerrit van Honthorst in Utrecht who was to have a strong influence on his work, although his paintings also show the influence of Pieter Codde, Willem Buytewech and Dirck Hals.

In Rome he gained a number of important commissions and while in Italy his patrons included the Medici and Pamphilj families. He left Italy in 1651 and by 1653 he was in Denmark where he was court painter in Copenhagen until 1662. He spent the last decade of his life working for the Prince-Bishop of Munster.

Heimbach's pictures are often genre scenes similar to Hals and Willem Duyster. His signature style is easily recognisable and often show figures holding candles. This was inspired by the Caravaggisti during Heimbach's visit to Italy in the 1640s and probably also by the chiaroscuro paintings of Honthorst. However, the pale, marble-like skin and heavily lidded eyes are particular to Heimbach alone.

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This work was painted in the year that Heimbach was appointed court painter of Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen (1606 - 1678) in Münster. Some works from this period were created in nearby Coesfeld where the Bishop-Prince's residence was moved to which is where the present work was painted. In the Prince-Bishop's employ Heimbach was paid 250 reichstalers a year with housing and his painting materials provided for. As a rough comparison in the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-17th century a labourer's monthly wage was around 3 or 4 reichstalers.

The man in the painting appears to be a cavalier, a character who, along with servants and maids, frequently populate Heimbach's scenes in keeping with the Dutch genre tradition. On one bandolier hangs two powder horns while the thicker bandolier presumably carries a sword at his left hip ready for his right hand to take up. The man holds a long candle and shields the flame with one hand so that it is not blown out by the draft of the open door behind. Dramatic lighting, with a figure holding their hand before a candle flame, is a common trope in Heimbach's work. Other artists painted similar subjects in the 17th century, but Heimbach's manner is utterly unique to him.

Provenance:

(Presumably) Commissioned by Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen (1606 - 1678), Croesfeld, Germany.
Private Collection, UK.