Hendrick ter Brugghen: 10 works

'Although the signature and date are original, the attribution of this painting to Ter Brugghen is not generally accepted.'

'The Utrecht Caravaggists Hendrick Ter Brugghen spent his formative years in Rome where the painter Caravaggio (1571-1610) became the main influence. Upon his return Ter Brugghen became the prime mover of a new school, the Utrecht Caravaggists, whose trademark style was an insistent naturalism combined with a high-contrast vein of painting known as clair obscur (light-dark).'

'Ter Brugghen did not, however, adopt Caravaggio's Baroque high drama. As always in his art, the mood here is hushed and contemplative.'

'Painted in 1621, another Calling of Saint Matthew, at the museum in Utrecht, shows the rapid evolution of ter Brugghen's work towards a stronger and yet more personal Caravaggism, with a monumental and elaborate style that justifies the admiration he received from his contemporaries, Rubens in particular, and his position as leader of the Utrecht Caravaggisti.'

'Ter Brugghen adopted Caravaggio's choice for the most dramatic moment of the story, as well as his arrangement of the figures around a table.'

'Hendrick ter Brugghen is today considered the most important exponent of the Utrecht followers of Caravaggio.'

'Ter Brugghen was in Rome for about ten years from 1604, where he studied the work of Caravaggio and his followers.'

'Ter Brugghen borrowed the idea of painting this earthy character with bad teeth from Bartolomeo Manfredi.'

'The rich man and the poor Lazarus is one of the major historical pieces that Ter Brugghen painted in his last years in Utrecht.'

'While visiting Rome from about 1604 to 1614, Hendrick ter Brugghen saw the famous Bacchus by Caravaggio from which this classical painting of Bacchus's female follower derives.'