Frans Sneijders worked when the sensual baroque style flourished in Europe. This style appeared by chance. Firstly, Europe actively rejected the asceticism imposed by the Middle Ages, and secondly, scientific ideas about the world as a space of being changed. The spirit of freedom burst into the painting.
Biography
Frans Sneijders was born in 1579 in Antwerp. His parents held a restaurant, which was famous for delicious food and good wine among artists. About childhood and adolescence, almost no information has been preserved. We know that he had five brothers and sisters. One of the brothers, Michelle, was also an artist. But his work did not become popular. It is known that he was in 1592-1593. studied painting under the guidance of Peter Brueghel the Younger. Then he joined the guild of St. Luke, which brought together all the artists, as the Academy of Arts does today. Frans Sneijders lived and studied in Italy for seven years. At first he lived in Rome. Then, on the recommendation of Jan Brueghel the Elder, he turned to the famous collector, Cardinal Borromeo, in Milan. Bruegel requested permission to make a copy of Titian's painting. Therefore, we can assume that Frans Sneijders was already a very experienced artist before he turned his attention to still lifes.
Returning to his homeland, enriched with knowledge, he married the artist’s sister Cornelis de Vos Margarete in the spring of 1609.
Since 1610, active cooperation with Rubens begins. A frequent customer and patron of Sneijders was Bishop Ghent. The work of Sneijders was in demand. On his earnings, he was able to buy a house in Antwerp. And the authority among artists was such that in 1628 he became dean of the Guild of St. Luke. He had many students. After the death of Peter Paul Rubens, Sneijders was awarded the opportunity to act as one of the evaluators of the heritage of the great artist. In 1647, the painter was widowed. He had no children. Sneijders himself died in 1657 and bequeathed his fortune to his sister. This is all that is rather sparingly known about such an artist as Frans Sneijders. The biography does not have full sources.
Artist's still lifes
Initially, the artist is not without influence, according to Caravaggio, drew attention to the image of flowers, vegetables and fruits. His compositions are extremely diverse, and the color scheme is simply beautiful.
Still life with a monkey, a parrot and a dog, which are next to the table, which is simply bursting with an abundance of fruits and fruits, berries, meat and sea delicacies. Red color is not dominant, but makes the composition very decorative in contrast to white drapery and a dog. The brown tablecloth, casually falling from the table, harmonizes perfectly with the gold of the lemons, with their whimsically wrinkled peel and the color of the violins. The composition is very complex, but fits into the traditional triangle that animals create.
Still life with fruits, vegetables, a monkey, a squirrel and a cat
On the table, covered with a scarlet tablecloth, animals are in charge.
In a basket filled with grapes,
peaches, plums, a squirrel wields. The monkey, who launched the foot into the basket, looks around and hisses at a sneaking cat. And he aimed at the lying hare and pheasants, which were carelessly thrown near the leek and artichokes. Sneijders was the first artist to make exclusively live animals the heroes of his still lifes.
In the kitchen
In the still lifes of Frans Sneijders, people are rarely included.
But here the artist depicted a kitchen table littered with unprocessed game, and a cook with a large knife who is about to begin cutting it. The game is shown as hunting trophies, which, perhaps, are not intended for cooking, but only for filling pies. Right there is a sly cat who has already grabbed a bird and is trying to drag it.
Wild boar hunting
Again, the primacy in the image of the hunt belongs to Sneijders.
This very vivid scene of lively hunting and fierce fighting of dogs and the wild boar defeated by them. His animalistic works greatly influenced contemporaries and subsequent generations of artists.
The innovator in the field of still life and animalism was the painter Frans Sneijders. Description of the paintings can be continued for a long time.
In the XV-XVI century, Baroque art developed in different directions. In the Netherlands, France Sneijders became his prominent representative.