GUILLAM FORCHONDT THE OLD (Antwerp, 1608-1678).
"The Assumption of the Virgin.
Oil on copper.
Signed in the upper left corner.
Size: 70 x 85 cm; 85 x 100 cm (frame).
In this majestic copper by Guillam Forchondt the Elder is shown the Assumption of the Virgin, taken in body and soul to Heaven, in a triumphal and scenographic way. Behind her opens the Glory, represented by the golden divine light, an elaborate break in the margins of which we see a multitude of angels in different positions, some looking down to earth and others upwards. On the earthly plane, clearly differentiated from the heavenly plane by the line of clouds, the figures gather around the Virgin's open tomb. They are the apostles and other women who, having witnessed Mary's death, marvel at her Assumption. Some of them are depicted with their backs to the tomb, closing a circular composition defined around the tomb, classical and orderly despite the apparent crowding of the figures in favour of the theatricality and, above all, the dynamism of the scene. Most of the figures are shown looking up towards the sky, with their hands raised in surprise as well as veneration, a skilfully narrative aspect. We see how Mary does not ascend to heaven by her own means, like Christ, but is raised to Paradise by the angels. As is customary in Western art, the artist depicts her bodily Assumption outside the tomb where the apostles had buried her.
Guillam Forchondt the Elder was a Flemish painter and art dealer. He captained a successful painting workshop that spread throughout Europe through his sons' offices in Vienna, Lisbon and Seville. Through the port of Cadiz, works were shipped to Mexico and sold to local convents. He played a very important role in the dissemination of Flemish Baroque art in Europe and South America, even changing the dealer-artist relationship by involving himself in the organisation of the artistic production process. His lucrative business was continued by his son, Guillam Forchondt the Younger (1645-after 1677), who turned it into an international art and luxury goods enterprise. Among his numerous clients were prominent personalities of the time, such as the Emperor of Austria and the Princes of Liechtenstein. As a painter, Forchondt worked in the Flemish Baroque style of Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Younger, Joos de Momper and David Teniers the Younger, clearly adapting his production to market demand. Many of his works can be considered pastiches or reduced copies of works by Rubens. At that time there was a great demand abroad, and particularly in Spain, for paintings in the style of the great Flemish masters, such as Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. Art dealers such as the Forchondts, who had local representation in several foreign countries, facilitated the trade in these paintings.