History of Art: Baroque and Rococo - Gerrit van Honthorst

Baroque and Rococo

Gerrit van Honthorst

Gerrit van Honthorst
(b Utrecht, 4 Nov 1592; d Utrecht, 27 April 1656).

Dutch painter and draughtsman. He came from a large Catholic family in Utrecht, with several artist members. His grandfather, Gerrit Huygensz. van Honthorst ( fl c. 1575–9), and his father, Herman Gerritsz. van Honthorst ( fl c. 1611–16), were textile and tapestry designers (kleerschrijvers); his father is also occasionally mentioned in documents as a painter. Both his grandfather and father held official positions in the Utrecht artists’ guilds, Gerrit Huygensz. from 1575 to 1579, and Herman Gerritsz. in 1616. Two of Gerrit Hermansz.’s brothers were also trained as artists. Herman Hermansz. van Honthorst ( fl 1629–32) was trained to be a sculptor but later became a priest, and Willem Hermansz. van Honthorst (1594–1666) studied painting under Gerrit Hermansz., whose style he frequently emulated. Gerrit Hermansz. was the most successful artist in the family and the most famous member of the group of UTRECHT CARAVAGGISTI, the Dutch followers of Caravaggio. His predilection for turning the great Italian painter’s dramatic patterns of natural light and shadow into nocturnal scenes with cleverly rendered effects of artificial illumination won him the Italian nickname ‘Gherardo delle Notti’.