Deodat del Monte

Deodat del Monte, Deodat van der Mont or Deodatus Delmont (baptized 24 September 1582, in Sint-Truiden – 24 November 1644, in Antwerp) was a Baroque painter, architect, engineer, astronomer, and art dealer who was part of the inner circle of Peter Paul Rubens. He worked for ruling princes in Germany, the Spanish Netherlands and Spain and was knighted.

Life Deodat van der Mont was born on or shortly before 24 September 1582 (the date of his baptism) in Sint-Truiden. His parents were Guilliam van Dermonde (Ghuilliam van der Mont or vander Monden), a goldsmith and type caster, and Margriet Pruynen. His family was influential locally but was not a part of the aristocracy as some sources have assumed. His father moved the family to Antwerp in 1587 or 1590 after he was forced to leave Sint-Truiden in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège due to accusations of money forgery.

Del Monte's life is closely connected to that of Rubens. According to contemporary witnesses, del Monte and Rubens were best friends from an early age. Del Monte would also have been his earliest pupil, at least in the area of painting. It is believed that he became a pupil of Rubens between 1598 (the year in which Rubens became a master) and 1600. He possibly studied under another master before becoming Rubens' pupil. The pair travelled over the Rhine, via Strasbourg, Basel and Schaffhausen, over the Alps and probably entered Italy by way of the Gotthard Pass. Del Monte stayed with Rubens during his service as court painter in Mantua and his residences in Rome. During this period they became acquainted with the scientist Galileo Galilei. This is evidenced by del Monte's witnessing in 1608 of a contract between Rubens and the Oratorians for the execution of an altarpiece for the San Filippo Neri church in Ferro, Italy. He worked as a painter and is recorded as having a workshop with two pupils in 1610. The early biographer Cornelis de Bie asserts in his book Het Gulden Cabinet published in 1662 that del Monte was in the service of Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg for some time. Some historians place this period of service in the 1610s. This is unlikely since during this time there are ample records of del Monte's presence in Antwerp. It is, however, likely that del Monte was in Wolfgang Wilhelm's service since the Count Palatine knighted him in 1626 and allowed him to have a coat-of-arms.

Del Monte's pupils included Boudewyn Claessen (1610), Thomas Morren (1610), Thomas van Bemelen (1621–22), Jakus Adriaenssen (1622–23), van den Berch (1623–24) and Martin Goes (1625–26). These works show the classical plasticity that characterise the works that Rubens painted between 1612 and 1618.

Other attributions to del Monte include a painting on The four elements (sold at Jean Moust) dated 1644, which must then have been painted in the year he was ill and died. The still life in the composition is attributed to Osias Beert the Younger. Another collaborative work is the fully signed and dated Adoration of the Shepherds painted together with Antwerp artist Jan Cossiers in 1643 (M – Museum Leuven). A Triumph of Bacchus was attributed to del Monte when auctioned by Dorotheum in 2000 but to Simon de Vos when auctioned by the same auction house in 2002.

A drawing entitled the Lamentation with Saint Francis of Assisi (former title: Anointing the Dead Christ) in the Fogg Museum has been attributed to del Monte. It is a preparatory drawing for a painting by del Monte (signed and dated 1623) in the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Tenhemelopnemingskerk (Church Our Lady of the Assumption) in Munsterbilzen, Belgium. Del Monte's Lamentation is clearly inspired by Rubens' Holy Trinity altarpiece or around 1620 (painted for the Church of the Calced Carmelites but now in the Royal Museum for Fine Arts, Antwerp) in its use of foreshortening in the body of Christ and the classicising style.

It is assumed that del Monte who was active as an architect assisted Rubens in his architectural designs and publications.