Self-portrait of Lucas van Valckenborch with Georg Hoefnagel and Abraham Ortelius in a village feast
1580 - 1590. Oil on panel.Not on display
This picture, acquired in 2000, is identical to another in the Hermitage (painting several versions of the same picture was a common practice at the time). The artist Pieter Stevens (1590-1668) owned a version of this picture (dated 1577 according to a document) in his house in Antwerp; it may be one of the two mentioned. In this crowded feast, a theme popularized by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525/1530-1569), we can distinguish in the foreground fashionably dressed men in urban clothes. They can be identified by comparing their faces to contemporary paintings or engravings. Lucas van Valckenborch is seen playing a pipe while the renowned artist Georg Hoefnagel (1542-1601) on the far left of the group, talks to a farmer. The geographer Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), author of the celebrated atlas Theatrum orbis terrarum (1570), converses with another villager behind the character who is gazing at the spectator while holding a small branch in his right hand. He has not yet been identified.
This painting celebrates the friendship between these men, who shared their interest in the arts and the culture of Antiquity. It has been said that a journey to Italy inspired this picture, but this is not certain. The painting is testimony of the influence of Peiter Bruegel the Elder´s longstanding influence and also of the social networks that existed at the time, based on the interest in the arts.
