Painting Gallery I

The topic of the painting gallery was articulated during the 16th and 17th century when such rooms were created, representing the first private collections of artworks, paintings and sculptures at the courts of the French and Italian nobility. With the rise in the popularity of this theme, there were more and more frequent depictions of imaginary galleries, depicting no specific collection, rather an arbitrary selection of the pictures best known at the time. The author ascribed this piece according to the most recent research is the Flemish painter Balthasar van den Bosche (Antwerp, 1681 – 1715). How important and well-regarded he was in the Antwerp painting scene of the early 18th century is shown by the fact that it was he that was chosen to paint a portrait of the Duke of Marlborough during his visit to the town in 1706, and that at the time of his death he was director of the Antwerp art academy. Although he was born just a few years before the death of David Teniers the Young (obit 1690), the influence of this artist on van den Bosche’s painting is very clear.