Abraham
Bloemaert
(b Gorinchem, 24 Dec 1566; d Utrecht, 13 Jan 1651).
Painter, draughtsman, writer and teacher. His long, successful career
and many prominent pupils, especially among the Utrecht Caravaggisti,
made him one of Utrecht’s principal painters in the first half of the
17th century. During his lifetime he enjoyed high esteem for his
paintings of religious and mythological subjects and for his numerous
drawings. At first he worked in a Mannerist style, then in a
Caravaggesque manner, finally adopting a distinctive, decorative
synthesis of both approaches.