Christ at Golgotha

Oil on oak panel with parquet floor. Antwerp school.

First half of the XVII th century, Workshop or entourage of Louis de Caullery , representing the Crucifixion.
Born around 1580 in the small town of Caulery near Cambrai, he died in 1621 in Antwerp.
At the age of 14, he moved to Flanders to study drawing and painting with
In 1602 he was accepted as a master and became a member of the guild of Saint Luc; he was also a disciple of Paul Vriedman de Vries (known for his architectural works). We know, but without specifying the periods, that he made a trip to Italy (an inescapable initiatory journey at the time for any painter who was to be considered "serious"; the best example being Caullery's contemporary 'MALO DE CAMBRAI'). Although certain art historians have disputed the actual existence of this journey, the fact remains that Caullery's work includes scenes depicting Venice, Florence and Rome, which tend to invalidate the theory of these historians.
Louis de Caullery's reputation was built on the quality of his genre paintings
his genre paintings, his skill and precision in the representation of buildings, in the treatment of perspective and above all in the variety of subjects treated / Carnival on Ice, Fireworks, gatherings in the open air, Allegory of the five senses and encounters painted in the spirit of the Ecole de Fontainebleau. His style is characterised on the one hand by the height of his figures, their smooth faces and elegant postures, and on the other by a palette largely influenced by the Italian masters and which proved to be an innovation in Flanders: half-tones, yellow, ochre, Veronese green and burgundy red.