Jan II van Coninxlo : a Brussels master of the first half of the 16th century

Abstract: This dissertation consists of a monograph on Jan II van Coninxlo (c. 1489 - after 1558), one of the masters working in the system of Flemish altarpiece production in Brussels. This production was at its most vigorous during the first two decades of the sixteenth century, when altarpieces were being exported widely to different parts of Europe. Examples of van Coninxlo's work can therefore be found today in Sweden, France and Belgium. First the situation of the pictorial arts in Brussels during the first half of the sixteenth century is described. The Late Gothic background of the production of the Flemish altarpieces, and developments in the art of the tapestry in the spirit of the High Renaissance, are both discussed here. This is followed by a brief account of the artist's life. The main section of the book is devoted to a survey of his surviving oeuvre, consisting of about a hundred paintings. The works are presented in turn and in detail. Style and iconography are analysed, as well as various aspects of the artist’s technique. The provenance of the works, and the question of who commissioned them, are also discussed in this section. The analyses include comparative studies of the works of contemporary artists such as Bernard van Orley, Quentin Matsys and Pieter Coeck van Aelst. A large number of photographs to illustrate details of the paintings as well as infra-red photos and X-radiographs were made in connection with the technical analyses. This section is followed by a brief discussion of paintings now rejected from the catalogue of van Coninxlo's works and an account of the master's artistic development. The book concludes with a catalogue. This is the first comprehensive study to have been made of van Coninxlo as an artist worthy of attention in his own right. He emerges as one of the more noteworthy masters involved in the production of altarpieces in Brussels, who was at the peak of his artistic career in the years around 1520. Two more works comprising thirteen paintings have been attributed to the master in this book. They belong to the period just after the middle of the century, and thus throw new light on his later activities. Van Coninxlo appears to have worked in the local arena, his roots firmly in the established pictorial tradition but still open to new sources of inspiration.