Pieter Balten, c. 1525 - 1598, Zug.

Pieter Balten,
ca. 1525 - 1598, attributed

LARGE KERMESSE ON SAINT GEORGE’S DAY

Oil on panel. Parquetted.
87.5 x 132 cm.

The depiction of large folk festivals, such as the Kermesse of Saint George’s Day or Saint Martin’s Day, are well established in Dutch painting. The colourful hustle and bustle, funny scenes, which often also provide critical social insights, attracted great interest even at the time these panel paintings were created. Famous representatives of this genre included Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Sebastian Vrancx, Peter Paul Rubens, David Teniers, and Matthias Schoevaerdts. In addition to the main event - the dance around the maypole - the actions and activities of the various social classes have also become a focus. Pieter Baltens included a self-portrait in his famous paintings. This is also the case here although he is shown far in the background on the village green bathed in sunshine. He wanted to focus his efforts on depicting the events in the foreground: groups and couples standing together under a tree, mostly around barrels, with some of the figures already quite drunk. A young man is being deloused by a woman on the ground in the foreground, in the left corner of the painting a man lies drunk on the ground. The realistic narrative scenes are framed by buildings to the side. The depiction of a church - in the background on the right - with believers of more or less conviction, who have arrived for this Saint George’s Day is a must. The Saint George’s flag hangs from the building on the right margin of the painting. Baltens is considered one of the inventors of this genre in Flemish and Dutch painting. Little is known about his life. He is mentioned as the son of the sculptor Galtens Custodis and according to the biographer Carel van Mander is listed in the Guild of Saint Luke in 1540. His creative path is closely linked to that of Pieter Brueghel the Younger, and a collaboration is assumed.

Literature regarding the artist:
Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler, vol. 2, p. 425f.
Karel van Mander, Het Schilderboek, ed. Hymans II, 17.
René van Bastelaer and Georges Hulin de Loo, Pieter Brueghel L’Ancien, son oeuvre et son temps, Brussels 1906, p. 371f.