A Major Figure of Baroque Art

Description

KAIRIS (Pierre-Yves). Preface by Alain Mérot. Bertholet Flémal (1614-1675): The 'Raphaël of the Netherlands' at the crossroads of Liège and Paris. Arthena, Paris 2015. Hardcover edition under illustrated dust jacket, (32 x 24 cm), 256 pages with nearly 280 illustrations including over 100 in color. A key figure of the Liège artistic community in the 17th century, largely focused on Rome and Paris, Bertholet Flémal, trained by the Caravaggist Gérard Douffet, initially gained fame for his innovative altar paintings. He quickly attracted private clientele fond of his cabinet paintings, particularly his Bacchanalian scenes. His career frequently brought him to Paris, where he painted the dome of the Carmes church and the ceiling of the throne room at the Tuileries before being received at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. A multifaceted personality, he served as the official painter for the Prince-Bishop of Liège, was an architect, illustrator, and tenor at the cathedral of his city, and ended his life with a canonry at a collegiate church in the city. A true schoolmaster, many students passed through his workshop, including Gérard de Lairesse, the 'Dutch Poussin', now recognized as one of the great artists of the time. His documented work, now including around a hundred often unpublished pieces, finally allows for a full appreciation of a powerful artist whom Sandrart referred to in 1679, just four years after his death, as the 'Raphaël of the Netherlands.'