Willem van Herp

The blind fiddlerWillem van Herp (I) or Willem van Herp the Elder (variations on first name: 'Guilliam', 'Gilliam' and 'Guillaume') (c. 1614 in Antwerp – 1677) was a Flemish Baroque painter specializing in religious paintings and small cabinet paintings of "low-life" genre scenes. He operated a large workshop and through his good connections with Antwerp art dealers helped spread the Flemish Baroque style internationally.

Life For a long time Willem van Herp was believed to have been a pupil of Peter Paul Rubens. Even though he was not his pupil he did borrow many of Rubens' motifs and touched up copies after Rubens for the art dealer Matthijs Musson. He is said to have trained with the minor artists Damiaan Wortelmans II and Hans Biermans.

Van Herp may have spent some time abroad after his training.

He was the master of his son Norbertus and Melchior Hamers.

Collaborations As was the custom at the time, he regularly collaborated with other painters. He worked with Jan van Kessel the Elder, Lambert de Hondt the Elder and Guillam Forchondt in the production of landscapes (painted by the other artist) with figures (painted by van Herp). Examples are The departure of the Israelites, St. Anthony Preaching to the Animals and Noli me tangere. These paintings are similar in composition and are a variation of the type of the so-called 'paradise landscape'. Paradise landscapes depict the Garden of Eden as described in the Book of Genesis, filled with all the animals, fish and birds that were believed to be God's creation. The type was invented and popularized by Jan Brueghel the Younger.

Works on copper Although only moderately successful in Antwerp, as suggested by the infrequent occurrence of his paintings in local inventories, Most of these were on copper, a material for painting that was highly prized both for durability and its glossy finish in Spain.

Tapestry designs Van Herp also produced designs for tapestries. In 1663 he was together with Jan van Kessel the Elder, David Teniers the Younger and Luigi Primo one of the painters who painted on copper a six-part series representing the history of the Moncada family.