Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Chamber Paintings by Dirck van Delen

Dirck van Delen
Seven-part decorative sequence
Gallery

1630-32
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

"One cannot say exactly when the wealthy citizens of the Republic began to decorate their homes with wall-size oil paintings, but in any case Utrecht widow Lampsins was by no means the only one to do so in the 1660s. The oldest preserved room-filling ensemble, usually attributed to Dirck van Delen (1605-1671), dates from the years 1630-32. Here we see an illustrious company of aristocrats, including the stadholder's family, in a decor of impressive imaginary architecture. The pilasters in the corners of the paintings and the marble floors painted in perspective give the viewer the impression that the paintings simply continue the real space of the room."

 from Art and Allegiance in the Dutch Golden Age by Margriet van Eikema Hommes (Amsterdam University Press, 2012)

The seven paintings by Dirck van Delen reproduced here are intended to form a continuous narrative loop when hung around the walls of an appropriate room. They are owned today by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, on loan to the Palace Het Loo.

Dirck van Delen
Seven-part decorative sequence
Outdoor stairway

1630-32
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Dirck van Delen
Seven-part decorative sequence
Outdoor stairway

1630-32
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Dirck van Delen
Seven-part decorative sequence
Interior

1630-32
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Dirck van Delen
Seven-part decorative sequence
Outdoor stairway

1630-32
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Dirck van Delen
Seven-part decorative sequence
Outdoor stairway

1630-32
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Dirck van Delen
Seven-part decorative sequence
Gallery

1630-32
oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam