Cornelis van der Geest (1555 – 10 March 1638) was a
spice merchant from Antwerp, who used his wealth to support the Antwerp artists and to establish his art collection. He was also the dean of the
haberdashersguild.[1]
Paintings by Willem van Haecht of his art gallery:
(1) Collection of Cornelis van der Geest with Joseph and Potiphar's wife,
c. 1630
(2) Alexander the Great visits the studio of Apelles,
c. 1630
(3) Apelles painting Campaspe,
c. 1630
(4) Spurious portrait of Paracelsus in the Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest, 1620-1637 (see C. Webster, 'Bare Heads against Red Hats', in From Physico-Theology to Bio-Technology, Amsterdam 1998, 54-75).
(5) Albert and Isabella visiting the Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest, 1628
(5) Left side detail: portraits of Isabella and Archduke Albert, Rubens, Prince Władysław Vasa of Poland (who visited van der Geest's Gallery in 1624, with black hat) and the host showing the Matsys Madonna
Paintings hanging in his art gallery followed by the numbers of the five gallery paintings above:
Venus in the Forge of Vulcan, by
Felice Riccio (2,3 & 5)
Lost portrait wrongly considered as that of Paracelsus, by
Quentin Matsys (5)
Maecenas
Van der Geest also functioned as a
maecenas. He arranged for Rubens to get the order for a triptych for the
Saint Walpurga church in Antwerp, which resulted in the Elevation of the Cross, now in the
Cathedral of Antwerp.[4] Similarly, the order for the 1630-1632 Triptych of Saint Ildephonsus, intended for the Saint James church, but now in the
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, was given to Rubens through the influence of Van der Geest.[1]
Van der Geest also financed a new memorial for
Quentin Metsys against the tower of the Antwerp Cathedral.[5]