Theodoor Boeyermans

Theodoor Boeyermans, Theodor Boeyermans or Theodor Boeijermans (10 November 1620 – January 1678) was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp who painted Baroque history paintings and group portraits informed by the tradition of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.

Life Theodoor Boeyermans was born in Antwerp as the son of Jan Boeyermans, Dirkszoon, originally from Haarlem who was a long-time resident of Antwerp and Agneta Leermans, a native of Antwerp. His mother was a widow who brought nine children from her first marriage into the family. The father of Boeyermans died in 1624. Boeyermans received his initial education in Antwerp. In 1634 his mother obtained a safe conduct allowing her family to stay in Eindhoven in the Dutch Republic. Here Boeyermans probably obtained a master's degree. He returned a few times to Antwerp to study and deal with several matters, including the receipt of his inheritance upon becoming an adult. From 1649 onwards he settled back in his native city where he lived in the house in which he was born and which was called 'De Gulden Pers' (The Golden Press).

It is not clear with whom he trained as a painter. Some historians have suggested a training in van Dyck's studio in Antwerp. He may also have made a trip to Italy. He became a master of the Antwerp guild of St. Luke in 1654 when he was already 34 years old.

He remained a bachelor his entire life. He joined the Sodaliteit der Bejaarde Jongmans, a fraternity for elderly bachelors established by the Jesuit order. He was also a member of the Antwerp chamber of rhetoric de Olyftack (Olive Branch) from 1664.

Marcus Forchondt, son of the art dealer Guillam Forchondt the Elder, was Boeyermans's pupil in 1670. Marcus later moved to Vienna to represent the family business but he remained in contact with Boeyermans as is testified by a letter dated September 1677. The artist received many important commissions for churches in his native Antwerp, the Kempen region and in Malines, but made his name in his hometown by painting secular compositions. He also painted group portraits. Together with Jan-Erasmus Quellinus, Boeyermans was one of the last important 17th-century Flemish history painters.

His style was influenced by Rubens and van Dyck but he favoured a darker palette than those two artists. In the 1660s Boeyermans produced another allegorical painting of Antwerp referred to as Allegory of the City of Antwerp (private collection).

In his portraits, the refined treatment of his subjects shows the influence of van Dyck's portraits. An example is the family portrait of the de Bie family (Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp), which depicts the well-to-do de Bie family of Antwerp amidst the usual symbols of fidelity (the dog), fortitude (the columns), fertility (the vines) and love (the fire).

Selected works Antwerp, Nourishing the Painters, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 1665 The Envoy, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp Saint Charles Borromeo Nursing the Plague Victims, Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, 1669 Portrait of the Family de Bie, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp The Visit, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp The Vision of Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 1669 Christ Healing the Sick People Lying near the Pool of Bethesda, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 1675