PIETER SCHOUBROECK (Hessheim / Frankenthal or Lambrecht (Pfalz) c. 1570 – Frankenthal 1607)
A Village Fair
Indistinctly signed with monogram and dated 1603 in the lower right
oil on copper
12 ¾ x 21 inches ( 33.5 x 54 cm.)
PROVENANCE
European Private Collection
Pieter Schoubroeck was one of the most important exponents of the Frankenthal School that centered around a group of émigré Flemish landscape painters. Starting in the second half of the sixteenth century, Frankenthal the Rhineland town which lies between Heidelberg and Worms became a haven for Protestants fleeing the Southern Netherlands. Schoubroeck was the son of Nicolas Schoubroeck a Calvinist minister who in 1566 had fled Flanders. From 1581 – 1586 the family returned to Mechelen where Schoubroeck became a pupil of Roment Verbiest, afterwards moving back to Frankenthal. In 1585 Gillis van Coninxloo, a fellow Calvinist, left Antwerp to settle in Frankenthal where he would remain until 1595. His presence exerted a powerful influence on the Frankenthal School particularly on Schoubroeck. In 1595 Schoubroeck was working in Rome where importantly he encountered the works of Paul Brill and Jan Brueghel the Elder which would further influence his works. From 1597 to 1600 he was in Nuremberg, and by 1601 back in Frankenthal where he would remain for the rest of his life.[1]
Here in a panoramic view, by employing a dazzling multitude of brightly colored figures, Schoubroeck captures the dynamism of the day. A device often employed by the artist was large groups illuminated by sunlight contrasted against others in shadow which lent depth to the scene. As depicted he favored fanciful landscapes and seascapes dotted with castles and craigs. The use of the triple color scheme – brown in the foreground, green in the middle and blue in the background is a tradition that began with the “world landscapes” of the sixteenth century.[2] His preferred medium was copper which served to enhance the jewel-like nature of his compositions, and gave further dimension to the etherealness of his scenes. As Schoubroeck died young his known oeuvre is extremely small.