page_title: Gerard van Honthorst
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Gerard van Honthorst / Early life
context_page_description: Gerard van Honthorst was a Dutch Golden Age painter who became especially noted for his depiction of artificially lit scenes, eventually receiving the nickname Gherardo delle Notti. Early in his career he visited Rome, where he had great success painting in a style influenced by Caravaggio. Following his return to the Netherlands he became a leading portrait painter.
context_section_description: Van Honthorst was born in Utrecht, the son of a decorative painter, and trained under his father, and then under Abraham Bloemaert.
caption: The Matchmaker, showing the use of Carravagesque lighting effects
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