RKD STUDIES

Four paintings in the Winter Room can be related to the studio of Louis de Caullery (c. 1580-1621). Three of them represent the triumphs of Venus, Ceres and Bacchus [1-3]. The pictures of the three deities are placed next to each other in the centre of the south wall and illustrate a symbolic indication that behind the south wall lay the private chambers of Christian IV's beloved Kirsten Munk. A fourth painting in the style of De Caullery is the above mentioned Venetian harbour scene with Commedia dell’arte figures bearing the date 1613 [4].

Two more paintings outside the Winter Room must have been a part of the delivery of paintings from Antwerp.¹ They are inserted at the inside of the door of the Studiolo. In the upper part of the door we find another work of De Caullery or his studio, showing the Canale Grande, the Square of St Marc and the Palace of the Doges in Venice [5]. Although the artist, a pupil of Joos de Momper, probably never visited Italy, his composition (based on prints) of Venice was succesfull and repeated many times [6-8].

5
studio of Louis de Caullery
The Canale Grande, the Square of St Marc and the Palace of the Doges in Venice, 1616-1620 or 1618-1623
Copenhagen, The Royal Danish Collection - Rosenborg Castle

6
Louis de Caullery
Capriccio view of the Bacino di San Marcoin Venetië on Ascension's Day

7
Louis de Caullery
Capriccio view of Venice with the Bucintoro
London (England), art dealer Johnny Van (London) Haeften

8
Louis de Caullery
Capriccio view of the Bacino di San Marco in Venice on Ascension Day

The lower part of the door contains a view of the Rialto bridge in Venice by an unidentified Antwerp painter [9]. It shows a remarkable resemblance to a drawing attributed to Jan Brueghel I that might have been a (probably indirect) source for the composition [10].