Godfried Cornelisz. Schalcken was born in Made, near Dordrecht. He was taught by Hoogstraten and Dou. Starting as a genre painter, he followed Dou's style of 'fine' (highly finished) painting.
From 1675 he painted more elegant allegorical subjects and scenes based on ancient literature. He is known for his scenes by candlelight. Towards the end of his life he worked in The Hague and London. He was also in Düsseldorf as court painter to the Elector Palatine.
Godfried Schalcken
1643 - 1706
Paintings by Godfried Schalcken
A man offers gold coins and jewellery to woman lying on a bed – a carving of Cupid, the god of erotic love, on the bedpost in the foreground removes any doubt that it is an amorous encounter. The glass of wine would also have been associated with licentious behaviour. Whether this is a transactio...
Not on display
This painting sets out to tease us: we are clearly invited to wonder about the nature of the relationship between the two figures. They sit close and seem deeply comfortable in each other’s presence; there is a hint of embarrassment in the young woman’s reaction to our gaze. She looks up slightly...
Not on display
A small, beady-eyed sparrow on one side of a set of scales heavily outweighs the gold and pearls which a weeping woman, two tears glistening on her cheeks, places in the other. Clearly, in the real word, this couldn't happen: the bird would be much the lighter than the jewellery. But this picture...
Not on display
This painting evokes a sense of the calm and simplicity of everyday routine and of the virtue of labour as the old woman absorbs herself in polishing the glowing brass of a large pan. But other objects on the sill give her scouring a different, darker significance and clearly identify the picture...
Not on display