Hieronymus Galle the Elder

Hieronymus Galle or Hieronymus Galle I or the Elder (1625 in Antwerp – 1679 in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter, who specialized in still lifes of fruit and flowers and hunting pieces. He collaborated with his fellow painters on garland paintings, i.e. paintings showing a garland of flowers or fruit around a devotional image or portrait.

He was a pupil of Abraham Hack, who also taught the prolific Jan van den Hecke. He joined the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1636 and became master in 1645–46.

He travelled to Italy and was documented in Rome in 1661–1662. He shared lodgings in Rome with his compatriot Franciscus de Neve (II). After his stay in Rome he signed his works with the Italianized form of his name, Girolimo.

It is believed he had a career in Antwerp where the last record about Galle dates to 1679.

Work General

He was known mainly for his flower and fruit still lifes. He also painted hunting pieces and garland paintings. He is further known for vanitas paintings.

Still lifes

He was initially a follower of the leading Antwerp flower painters Daniel Seghers and Jan Brueghel the Elder. While Seghers generally bathed his flowers in full light, Galle more typically relied on an animated play of light and shade in his compositions. In his palette he showed a preference for salmon-pink tonalities. The genre was initially connected to the visual imagery of the Counter-Reformation movement. Garland paintings typically show a flower garland around a devotional image, portrait or other religious symbol (such as the host). Garland paintings are typically a collaboration between a figure painter and a flower painter.

Galle is known to have collaborated with Cornelis Schut on a garland painting referred to as A trompe l'oeil relief of the Pietà in a stone carved tondo, surrounded by festoons of flowers and thistles (Sold at Christie's on 11 May 2005 in Amsterdam lot 29).

Galle was likely an influence on the French still life painter Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer who resided in Antwerp for some time.