- Gillis d'Hondecoeter
Gillis Claesz. de Hondecoeter or d'Hondecoeter (
Antwerp orMechelen , c. 1575-1580 –Amsterdam , buriedOctober 17 1638 ) was a Dutch painter, working in a Flemish style, painting landscapes, trees, fowl and birds. Later on d'Hondecoeter painted in a more Dutch, realistic style. Gillis was the father ofGijsbert d'Hondecoeter and grandfather of the more successfulMelchior d'Hondecoeter andJan Weenix . His daughter Josijntje marriedJan Baptist Weenix .Life
Gillis d'Hondecoeter was the son of Nicolaes Jansz d'Hondecoeter, a painter who fled from Antwerp to
Delft , after the Spanish occupied the city in 1585. Gillis married in 1602 Maaijke Gijbrechts inDelft , while working in Utrecht. The couple had six children, before they moved toAmsterdam in 1615, where another three children were baptized. His brother was a surgeon in that city.In 1622 his wife died. Six years later he married the young and (probably) beautiful Anna Spierinx, who first had refused his son Gijsbert, according to
Arnold Houbraken . The couple lived onSingel and had one child together.Works
Gillis, his son Gijsbert, working in Utrecht and both his grandchildren specialized in fowl and birds, using probably a small gallow, as was mentioned in the inventory of his grandson Melchior de Hondecoeter. Gillis painted Flemish, hilly, fantasy landscapes, most of the time in connection with a biblical scene. It is said he was influenced by
Roelant Savery , a Flemish painter who also moved in Amsterdam. The figures on one of his paintings he left to his collegue,David Vingboons .External links
*http://www.steigrad.com/images/artlge/hond01.jpg
*http://www.wga.hu/art/h/hondecoe/gillis/baptism.jpg
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