After Paul Rumsey mentioned this artist I went hunting for more of his works. I found the above painting of hell in a book of Fantastic Art that I've had since childhood. So I've been familiar with this artist longer than I realized. The following 3 paintings were all that I was able to gather from the internet, apart from the other painting below that I'd mistaken for the work of Jan Brueghel. You'll be able to see the above work in far greater detail than the rest. If anyone can point me in the direction of more paintings by Swanenburgh, or larger examples of those posted below, I'd really appreciate it.
Hell, oil on copper.
Temptation of Saint Anthony, oil on wood.
Witches Sabbath In Roman Palace Ruins, 1608. Notice the large bird headed skeleton creature the witches are riding on at the bottom left corner of the painting.
3 comments:
Hi Aeron, That book, "Fantastic Art" by David Larkin was a big influence on me also,I have had it since I was 17. The repro is only a detail, I have the whole picture, but only in B and W.
Have you noticed that in his Temptation of St Anthony picture he has used details (the sinking boat and lightning bolt ) from the Giorgio Ghisi "Allegory of Life, Dream of Raphel" print that you have in the Monster Brains post Jan 16 th 2007. Paul.
Very interesting, I wonder what other bits and pieces he's referenced from other works in his paintings? It's unfortunate that his work is so difficult to find online, it seems any mention of him is usually only in reference to his being Rembrandt's first master.
And that's great the Fantastic Art book by Larkin influenced you as well. I was around 10 years old when I picked it off a shelf in my home and poured through the works of so many strange artists. As much as I've flipped through the book I'm surprised it's still in one piece!
And I suspected that painting from the Fantastic Art book was a cropping because of how similar it is to the previously posted painting. I actually thought they were the same until I looked closer and saw the small differences. It's peculiar that he would make two paintings that are so similar to each other. I imagine the other was for himself or a second customer determined to have the same composition.
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