May 19, 1647

Sebastian Vrancx (January 22, 1573 to May 19, 1647) was a Flemish painter and his art often dealt with large crowd scenes, often military themed. The copy below, of a boat with cats and monkeys in costume , is not fantasy. It is satire. A trope used by others of the time. Still, more research would be helpful here. The question, satire of what, was probably not necessary for his audience, and now, the intent is not clear to us. Here is a summary of his career:

Sebastian Vrancx was an important Flemish painter of battle, genre, historical scenes and cityscapes, landscapes and sets of views illustrating the months and the Seasons. Born in Antwerp in 1573, he studied with the religious painter Adam van Noort the Elder (1562-1641), who also taught Rubens and Jordaens. Around 1595/7 Vrancx went to Italy, where he met Ludovico Pozzoserrato (Lodewijk Toeput) at Treviso and was influenced by his paintings of elegant figures in Venetian landscapes.

In 1600/1 Vrancx, like his father before him, became a master in the Antwerp guild of St Luke; he was its principal dean in 1612. In 1607 Vrancx became a member of the rhetoric chamber De Violieren, for which he composed poetry, comedies and tragedies. After 1610 he became a member of the exclusive Fraternity of SS Peter and Paul, whose members included Jan Breughel the Elder, Rubens and Hendrick van Balen; Vrancx was the society’s dean in 1617. In 1612 Vrancx married Maria, daughter of the picture dealer Bartholomeus Pamphi. A successful artist and socially prominent citizen, Vrancx became an officer of the Antwerp civic guard in 1613 and its captain in 1621. He died in Antwerp in 1647 and is buried in the church of the Carmelites.

Vrancx is an important figure in the transition between sixteenth and seventeenth century art. He orchestrated panoramic landscapes and cityscapes with large numbers of figures. He introduced the subject of cavalry battles, which he began painting as early as 1601, to the Netherlands. About half Vrancx’s output is battles, skirmishes and the pillaging of villages, a subject all too familiar after the outbreak of the Eighty Years’ War in 1568. Vrancx also provided figures in the landscapes of Jan Brueghel the Elder and Joos de Momper II. Vrancx’s pupil was Peter Snayers, who in turn taught the leading French battle painter Adam van der Meulen.

The work of Sebastian Vrancx is represented in the British Royal Collection; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; the Prado, Madrid; the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen; the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels and the Louvre, Paris.


We are in debt to the Cat Museum of San Francisco for our copy of  "The Boating Party":