18 facts about Christoffel van den Berghe

Christoffel van den Berghe (he used the monogram CvB)(c.1590, Antwerp – c.1645, Middelburg) was a Flemish-born Dutch Golden Age painter of landscapes and flower nevertheless lifes.

Very little is known approximately van den Berghe and he was without help rediscovered as an independent artist in the 1950s as soon as some works formerly credited to additional artists were reattributed to him. It is believed that he was born in Antwerp and that his intimates left Flanders to harmonize in Middelburg. He may have trained under Ambrosius Bosschaert. In 1619 he registered in the Guild of St. Luke in Middelburg and in 1621 he was dean of the Guild. He bought a house in Middelburg in 1621 which he yet owned in 1628.

Johannes Goedaert was his pupil.

He primarily painted in two genres: landscapes and flower nevertheless lifes. There are four known examples of flower still lifes by his hand. A flower nevertheless life in the Philadelphia Museum of Art is signed and dated ‘CV BERGHE 1617’. This flower yet life in the Philadelphia Museum of Art shows the put on of Ambrosius Bosschaert (who may have been his teacher) and Roelant Savery, two extra Flemish-born nevertheless life painters who had migrated to the Dutch Republic. His other flower nevertheless lifes are thesame except for the one held by the Getty Museum, which is signed and dated ‘Cv berghe 1624’ and a vanitas nevertheless life when a skull, shell and a vase of flowers.

A ‘Winter landscape’ held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art was formerly attributed to Hendrick Avercamp, the voyager of winter scenes in the Dutch Republic. It resembles another ‘Winter landscape’ held at the Mauritshuis in The Hague of the thesame period. The winter landscapes are more reminiscent of similar works painted by Adriaen van de Venne who was Van den Berghe’s contemporary in Middelburg. Landscape paintings in Middelburg followed Flemish conventions which explains the earlier attribution of the Mauritshuis painting to Flemish landscape artists David Vinckboons and higher to Paul Bril. Van den Berghe painted the figures in his landscapes himself which helps to distinguish him from further artists who would often use specialists for this task.