Dirck van Baburen

Dirck van Baburen - Pupil of Paulus Moreelse; travels to Italy

Dirck van Baburen was probably born in Wijk bij Duurstede in 1595, but his parents Jasper van Baburen and Margareta van Doyenburch and the family soon moved to Utrecht. His father was in the service of the Viscountess of Utrecht and had sufficient financial means to provide his son with an excellent education, and Dirck van Baburen is known to have been a pupil of the famous Utrecht master Paulus Moreelse by 1611 at the latest. This was probably the last year of his apprenticeship, because just a few months later, in 1912, Dirck van Baburen travelled to Italy, where he visited Parma and Rome and worked there with his friend and fellow painter David de Haen from Rotterdam in the Capella della Pietà in the church of San Pietro in Montorio. It was during this time that he created one of his most famous and important works, The Entombment of Christ.

Caravaggio as a great role model; founder of a new school of painting

During his stay in Rome, which lasted several years, Dirck van Baburen came into close contact with the work of Caravaggio, which had a decisive influence on his own work. Dirck van Baburen shared his deep admiration for the Italian master with his colleagues Hendrick Terbrugghen and Gerard van Honthorst and together they founded a new school of painting, the famous Utrecht Caravaggisti, who in turn exerted a great influence on later great Dutch painters such as Frans Hals, Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer. The Caravaggio style was characterised above all by strongly contrasting shading and a pronounced naturalism, all of which can also be found in the works of Dirck van Baburen. The artist drew primarily on his everyday observations and viewpoints; even his numerous religious and mythological depictions often transpose the events into a contemporary scenario, for example the forge in which Vulcan captivates the rebellious Prometheus is strikingly reminiscent of a 17th century workshop.

Return to Utrecht; premature death

In around 1620, Dirck van Baburen returned to Utrecht where he is said to have shared a studio and a circle of interested students with his friend Terbrugghen - although this assumption has not been clearly proven. After a short but intense period of activity, Dirck van Baburen died at the height of his fame on 21st February 1624. Most of his work can be found in renowned museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the National Gallery in London. Paintings by the Utrecht master rarely come up for auction, and it goes without saying that a work by Dirck van Baburen commands a reasonable price. The influence of the prematurely deceased artist on his contemporaries and successors was considerable: great artists such as Cornelis Boemaert, his teacher Cryspin de Passe and Johann Friedrich Leonart copied Dirck van Baburen's paintings and disseminated them further.