Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying art medium made with pigment and a drying-oil binder that allows extended working time, smooth blending, and layered application.
Painter
Bartholomeus Spranger
Bartholomeus Spranger was a Flemish-born Northern Mannerist painter who brought elegantly twisting figures, mythological allegories, and dramatic colors to Rudolf II's Prague court.
Bartholomeus Spranger quick facts
Spranger studied in Italy and served Rudolf II at the imperial court in Prague. He became a leading Northern Mannerist, and prints by Hendrick Goltzius and Jan Muller circulated his designs widely.
| Born | 1546 · Antwerp, Habsburg Netherlands (now Belgium) |
|---|---|
| Died | 1611 · Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czechia) |
| Nationality | Flemish (Netherlandish) |
| Movements | Northern Mannerism (Prague court) |
| Paint types | Oil Paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas |
| Painting methods | Oil-painted flesh tones, intertwining bodies, polished court allegory, decorative drapery, and ink-and-wash figure drawings translated into other media |
| Common subjects | Jupiter, Venus and Adonis, Hercules, courtly allegories, mythological lovers, and imperial ideals |
| Notable works | Jupiter and Antiope · Venus and Adonis · Neptune and Amphitrite (drawing) |
Sources: The Met: Spranger exhibition and Jupiter and Antiope, oil on canvas, The Met: Spranger exhibition catalogue, painted works and supports, National Gallery: Spranger, Parmigianino influence and Prague career, The Met: Neptune and Amphitrite, pen-and-wash drawing, The Met: Print after Spranger by Jan Muller, not his oil painting.
Paint types used
The Met records Jupiter and Antiope (1596) as oil on canvas. It catalogs Neptune and Amphitrite as pen and brown ink with wash, a drawing rather than a second paint type. Engravings after his compositions are prints, not original paintings by Spranger.
Surface types used
The Met documents canvas as the original support of Jupiter and Antiope. A museum record for an unrelated Mannerist oil on wood or copper does not establish Spranger's use of that support.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support, commonly cotton or linen, used for painting and sold either raw or prepared with a compatible ground layer.
Painters similar to Bartholomeus Spranger
Parmigianino's Italian figure style influenced Spranger; Wtewael developed comparable intricate and elegantly artificial scenes in Utrecht.
Parmigianino
Parmigianino was an Italian Mannerist painter whose elongated figures, elegant gestures, and unusual perspectives helped define the movement's refined artificiality.
Joachim Wtewael
Joachim Wtewael was a Dutch Northern Mannerist painter from Utrecht celebrated for jewel-like oil paintings on copper, elaborate mythologies, biblical scenes, and portraits.