Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)(Dordrecht 1630 – 1674 Dordrecht)

Cornelis Bisschop

How to cite
Libby, Alexandra. “Cornelis Bisschop” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 4th ed. Edited by Arthur K. WheelockJr.

andElizabeth

Nogradywith

Caroline

VanCauwenberge.

NewYork,2023–.

https://theleidencollection.com/artists/cornelis-bisschop/ (accessed October 07, 2024).
A PDF of every version of this biography is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive is managed bya permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative occurs.

© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Cornelis Bisschop
Page 2 of 4

A native of Dordrecht, Cornelis Bisschop was born to an affluent family in February 1630. His father, Jacob Dionysz
Bisschop (d. 1648), was a tailor and proprietor of a well-known Dordrecht inn on the Wijnstraat, De Pauw (“ThePeacock”).[1] His mother, Anneke van Beveren (d. 1667), came from Utrecht.[2] According to Arnold Houbraken, Bisschop
studied with Ferdinand Bol (1616–80), a close associate and former pupil of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69). Bol, alsofrom Dordrecht, was living in Amsterdam by the late 1630s, and it is presumed that Bisschop entered his studio inAmsterdam sometime in the late 1640s. During his time there, Bisschop likely also met two other Dordrecht artists who
had formerly worked with Rembrandt, Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627–78) and Nicolaes Maes (1634–93).[3] Bisschop
returned to Dordrecht by 26 October 1653, the day he married Geertruyt Botland (d. 1653), also from Dordrecht.[4] The
couple’s first child was born less than six months later, and their family would ultimately grow to include eleven children
by 1674, the time of Bisschop’s early death at the age of forty-four.
Bisschop’s oeuvre consists of religious and mythological paintings, portraits, genre scenes, and trompe l’oeil images. During
the 1650s and 1660s his paintings reflected the influence of Rembrandt and artists in his circle both in their subject matterand style, which is characterized by a warm palette and rich light effects.[5] During the 1660s Bisschop shifted his focus totrompe l’oeil illusionism, perhaps through the inspiration of Van Hoogstraten. Both artists produced chantourné pictures(images cut in the shape of the persons or objects they represent), and numerous anecdotes exist describing how these
illusionistic images fooled unsuspecting houseguests. According to Houbraken, visitors to Bisschop’s home were even
known to offer tips to one of his dummy boards.[6]Bisschop enjoyed success over the course of his career, and he executed works for both local and international collectors.
Among his most important Dordrecht commissions was his thirteen-figure portrait of the regents of the Holy Sacrament
Hospital, which he completed in 1671. His work was also sought out by the French diplomat Bathasar de Monconys(1611–65), who purchased one of his paintings for the collection of Louis XIV (1638–1715) in 1663.[7] Almost certainly
because of his abilities in creating trompe l’oeil images, Bisschop was invited by King Charles V (1680–1729) of Denmark
to become a court painter in Copenhagen in 1674.[8] The artist died before he could travel to Denmark.

- Alexandra Libby, 2017© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Cornelis Bisschop
Page 3 of 4Endnotes
1. Clotilde Brière-Misme, “Un petit maître hollandais, Cornelis Bisschop (1630–1674),” Oud Holland 65(1950): 24.
2. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (Amsterdam,1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 2: 220; For biographies of Bisschop,see also Walter Liedtke, “Cornelis Bisschop,” in Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art(New York, 2006), 1: 35–36; David de Witt, The Bader Collection: Dutch and FlemishPaintings (Kingston, 2014), 62.
3. Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, vol. 3, B. Keil – J. Ovens (Landau, 1983), 1961;
Walter Liedtke, “Cornelis Bisschop,” in Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York,2006), 1: 35.
4. Clotilde Brière-Misme, “Un petit maître hollandais, Cornelis Bisschop (1630–1674),” Oud Holland 65(1950): 27.
5. Walter Liedtke, “Cornelis Bisschop,” in Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York,2006), 1: 35.
6. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (Amsterdam,1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 2: 220.
7. Bathasar de Monconys, Iournal des voyages de monsieur de Monconys (Lyon, 1665), 128.
8. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (Amsterdam,1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 2: 222.

Literature
De Monconys, Bathasar. Iournal des voyages de monsieur de Monconys. Lyon, 1665, 128.
Houbraken, Arnold. De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen. Amsterdam,1718–21; revised edition published in The Hague, 1753; reprinted in Amsterdam, 1980, 2: 220.
Brière-Misme, Clotilde. “Un petit maître hollandais, Cornelis Bisschop (1630–1674).” Oud Holland 65(1950): 227–40.
Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 3, B. Keil – J. Ovens (Landau, 1983), 1961.
Liedtke, Walter. “Cornelis Bisschop.” In Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1:35–36.
New York, 2006.
De Witt, David. The Bader Collection: Dutch and Flemish Paintings. Kingston, 2014, 62.
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Cornelis Bisschop
Page 4 of 4Horn, Hendrik J. and Rieke van Leeuwen. Houbraken Translated: Arnold Houbraken’s Great Theatre oftheNetherlandish

Painters

andPaintresses.

TheHague,

2021,

2:

220–22[https://houbraken-translated.rkdstudies.nl/2-180-239/page-220-229/] (accessed October 31, 2022).

© 2024 The Leiden Collection