Lot 1064 Dα

Jan Bijlert was one of the leading artists in Utrecht and was among the founding members of the painter's guild established there in 1626. When art historians speak of the Utrecht Carravagesque painters, they mean four artists: Gerard van Honthorst, Dirck van Baburen, Hendrick ter Brugghen and Jan van Bijlert. However, van Bijlert was a relatively versatile artist, and not all of his paintings display the influence of Carravaggio - the present work being one example. After completing his training under Abraham Bloemaert, Bijlert travelled to Italy via France and resided in Rome for several years. A group of Netherlandish artists had settled there and were able to find patrons for their works alongside the great artists of this city, Caravaggio and Guido Reni. Bijlert was known there under the name Giovanni Bilardo, although little else is known of his early artistic phase. This picture of a shepherd playing a flute is a pendant to an image of a shepherdess holding a staff (Huys Janssen, no. 92). It reflects the Arcadian spirit of southern pastoral themes, and would have been unthinkable without the artist's direct experiences in Italy. However, author Paul Huys dates the work to 1630/35, around five or six years after Bijlerts return to Utrecht.