erlands. His later support of Luther is expressed in works
such as the Four Apostles of 1526 (Alte Pinakothek). His
Vier Bûcher von menschlicher Proportion was published
posthumously in 1528.CORNELIS ENGEBRECHTSZ.
Leiden circa 1465-1527
Engebrechtsz. was the first major painter of Leiden. It is
not known with whom he studied. He is first docu-
mented in that city in 1487 and remained there for his en-
tire career. His major surviving works are the Lamenta-
tion and Crucifixion triptychs (Stedelijk Museum "De
Lakenhal"), both commissioned for the Augustinian
convent of Mariënpoel, outside Leiden. Made circa
1508 , the Lamentation triptych demonstrates the influ-
ence of Flemish artists such as Colijn de Coter, suggest-
ing that Engebrechtsz. may have traveled to Brussels and
elsewhere in the southern Netherlands circa 1500-05.
The impact of Antwerp Mannerists such as Jan de Beer
is visible in the Crucifixion triptych, which probably
dates to circa 1517/22. Engebrechtsz.'s studio included his
sons Pieter Cornelisz. Kunst, who specialized in glass
painting, Lucas Cornelisz. De Kock, and Cornelis Cor-
nelisz. as well as Aertgen van Ley den and Lucas van Ley-
den. After circa 1520 the Engebrechtsz. shop was over-
shadowed by that of Lucas van Ley den.JAMES ENSOR
Ostende 1860-1949
The son of an English father and Belgian mother, Ensor
was artistically inclined from an early age. His formal
training consisted of three years at the Académie des
Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1877-80), his only lengthy so-
journ outside his native Ostende. On his return Ensor
allied himself with a succession of Belgian avant-garde
exhibition societies of considerable influence on the Con-
tinent: La Chrysalide (in 1881), L'Essor (in 1882), and Les
XX (Les Vingt) (1883-93). With them he exhibited
most of his important drawings, prints, and paintings
(with the notable exception of Christ's Entry into Brussels
in 1889 ]. Paul Getty Museum]) despite frequent severe
criticism of his style and subject matter. His art reached
its peak in the years 1885-95 with such masterworks as
the Haloes of Christ drawings, The Temptation of Saint An-
thony (New York, Museum of Modern Art), Christ's En-
try into Brussels in 1889, and the etching The Cathedral of
- With the growing public appreciation of his work
during the late 18905 came a decline in creativity and
technical experimentation. Ensor was knighted by the
Belgian government in 1903 and created a baron in 1929.
GOVAERT FLINCK
Cleves 1615-Amsterdam 1660
Circa 1630 Flinck and his colleague Jacob Backer studied
with Lambert Jacobsz. in Leeuwarden. Circa 1633-36 he
studied with Rembrandt in Amsterdam. His paintings of
this decade such as Landscape with Obelisk of 1638 (Bos-
ton, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum) closely follow
Rembrandt's manner. During the 16405 he established
himself as one of Amsterdam's leading portrait painters.
Portrait of a Lady and a Gentleman of 1646 (Karlsruhe,
Staatliche Kunsthalle) exemplifies his elegant, aristo-
cratic style, reflecting the influence of van Dyck. Flinck
became one of the most successful Dutch painters of his
time. His reputation as a history painter in the grand
manner led to prestigious commissions such as Allegory
on the Memory of Frederick Hendrik, Prince of Orange, with
the Portrait of His Widow Amalia van Solms of 1654 (Rijks-
museum). The greatest opportunity of his career mate-
rialized in 1659, when he was asked to design twelve large
paintings for the Amsterdam town hall, but he died be-
fore any of these could be completed. As a draughtsman
Flinck primarily produced figure studies and, to a lesser
extent, landscapes.THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH
Sudbury, Suffolk 1727-London 1788
At age thirteen Gainsborough went to London to be-
come an artist. He studied with Hubert Gravelot and
possibly Francis Hayman and was also influenced by
seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting. During
his early career he produced landscapes and worked as a
restorer for art dealers. With his new wife he returned to
Sudbury in 1748, moving to Ipswich circa 1752 and to
Bath in 1759. There he achieved success as a portraitist of
the local gentry with paintings such as Blue Boy (San
Marino, Hunting ton Art Gallery) and continued to pro-
duce landscapes such as Harvest Wagon (Birmingham,
Barber Institute). Shortly after his move to London in
1774 , Gainsborough rose to become the leading portrait-
ist in England, rivaled only by Sir Joshua Reynolds. In
1777 he received the first of a long series of commissions
from the royal family. His later portraits, especially of
women, are romanticized and ethereal, with a great em-
phasis on bravura handling of paint. Success as a por-
traitist eventually left him free to pursue the genre of
landscape, which he always considered his true vocation.
Important late pictures include The Mall of 1783 (Frick
Collection).ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES 333