Gerard Houckgeest, 'Interior of a Church', possibly 1644
About the work
Overview
We stand inside a church, although it is not clear which one. The picture can be attributed to Gerard Houckgeets, a pupil of Bartholomeus van Bassen. He specialised in painting fictional architecture early in his career, but then switched to painting existing church interiors. He is best known for these later works, in which he often introduced an oblique viewing angle and paid special attention to the daylight coming in through the church windows. This is an early example of his work, the fictional church interior still reminiscent of those by his master, Bartholomeus van Bassen.
This painting was previously attributed to Pieter Neeffs the Elder, whose name appears at the bottom of a lengthy inscription above the lavish tomb on the right, together with the date 1644. This signature has since been identified as a forgery, although the date might be accurate; its placement might have been prompted by the sumptuously dressed man pointing his cane towards the inscription, one of a number of figures animating the scene, together with multiple dogs.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Interior of a Church
- Artist
- Gerard Houckgeest
- Artist dates
- 1600 - 1661
- Date made
- possibly 1644
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 68.5 × 98.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by (Sir) Henry H. Howorth, 1875
- Inventory number
- NG924
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 21st-century Replica Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1910H. Jantzen, Das niederländische Architekturbild, Leipzig 1910
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.