Johannes Lingelbach Biography
Johannes Lingelbach (sometimes also Jan) (Frankfurt am Main, 10 October 1622 – Amsterdam, November 1674) was a Dutch painter and engraver of German origin of the Golden Age, active in Italy, France and the Netherlands. He was born in Germany, but in 1634 his family moved to the Netherlands to Amsterdam, where Johannes presumably served his apprenticeship as a painter to Karel Dujardin. In 1642 he went to France and subsequently to Rome, where his presence is documented in the years from 1646 to 1649, although he was probably already in this city from 1644. The artist left Rome in 1650 and returned to Amsterdam in 1653, where he remained until his death. Lingelbach was perhaps the only painter belonging to the Dutch Italianates group to have a catalog containing dated and signed works, which documents his artistic evolution, although unfortunately no works from the period prior to 1650 are known with certainty. In fact, the first signed works , mentioned in the catalogue, are The Blacksmith and Self-Portrait with Violin painted in 1650. As regards the previous period, there are some paintings depicting Roman professions, sometimes attributed to the Master of the Crafts, sometimes to Lingelbach's youthful period or to Pieter van Laer, of of which Lingelbach was a second generation follower. Some of these works (The Brandy Seller, The Cake Seller, The Tobacconist) have some points in common with The Blacksmith of 1650 and The Dentist on Horseback of 1651 (signed), however, while in The Blacksmith the lines are drawn in In an incisive and almost caricatured way, in the I mestieri Romani series, the author gives body to the volumes with a use of warm and intense colours. Lingelbach painted Italian landscapes and popular scenes inserted into imaginary landscapes, similar to those of the Roman countryside (the so-called Bambocciate), based on sketches taken from life. After his return to Amsterdam, he began to paint larger and bolder compositions, creating space by means of light and the perspective of the inserted architectural elements, denoting an in-depth knowledge of the works of Viviano Codazzi. In addition to landscapes, including seaports, he also painted battle scenes. He also collaborated with other artists such as Meindert Hobbema, Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan Hackaert, Philips Koninck, Jan Wijnants, Adriaen Verboom, Daniël de Blieck and others, inserting figures into their landscapes. He was influenced by Philips Wouwerman and Jan Wijnants.
