Homage To Venus. Louis De Caullery & Workshop (antwerp 1580-1621)

**This painting can be paired with the homage to CeresOil on oak panel (one board only)Presented in an antique, Flemish, blackened and heavily molded wood frame with an inverted profile.Overall dimensions: 58 x 47 cm. The panel alone: 36 x 26 cmHomage to Venus. In Roman mythology, Venus was the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. She was the Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. However, the Roman Venus had many more qualities than the Greek Aphrodite. A rare painter, Louis de Caullery (1580-1621), was one of the pioneers of gallant meetings in 17th-century Flemish painting. Louis de Caullery was probably born in the village of Caullery near Cambrai (then Spanish Netherlands), he moved to Antwerp at a young age in 1594 where he was probably a pupil of Frans Francken the Elder and Joos de Momper, following this training, he was recognized as a master of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1602. The date of his trip to Italy cannot be determined precisely, his works prove that he nevertheless resided in Venice, Florence and Rome and that he met Adam Elsheimer and Annibale Carracci there and that he frequented Caravaggio and Rubens. It is believed that he returned to Antwerp between 1605 and 1610. This artist distinguished himself in genre painting and treated a wide variety of scenes: carnival on ice, fireworks, bullfights, allegories of the five senses, and gallant meetings in the spirit of the Fontainebleau school. His technique for painting his figures, their postures, smooth faces with a bare forehead are characteristic of his style. Under the influence of the Italian masters, his colors are very sophisticated (his palette is an innovation in Flanders) half-tones of yellow ochre, Veronese green, red Burgundy. His representation of buildings shows that he is concerned with precision, while being very skillful in representing perspectives. His religious painting shows us scenes whose atmosphere he has the gift of de-dramatizing through the casual and comical attitude of his figures. Beautiful condition. Sold with a certificate.