FYT, JOHANNES (1609-1661)

This article appears in Volume V11, Page 376 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: FRA-GAE

FYT, JOHANNES (1609-1661) , Belgian animal painter, was born at Antwerp and christened on the 19th of August 1609. He was registered apprentice to Hans van den Berghe in 1621. Professionally van den Berghe was a restorer of old pictures rather than a painter of new ones. At twenty Johannes Fyt entered the gild of St Luke as a master, and from that time till his death in 1661 he produced a vast number of pictures in which the bold facility of

Snyders

SNYDERS, FRANZ (1579-1657)

is united to the powerful effects of

Rembrandt

REMBRANDT (1606-1669)

, and harmonies of gorgeous tone are not less conspicuous than freedom of

touch

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

and a true semblance of nature. There never was such a master of technical processes as Fyt in the "rendering of animal life in its most varied forms. He may have been less correct in outline, less bold in action than

Snyders

SNYDERS, FRANZ (1579-1657)

, but he was much more skilful and more true in the reproduction of the coat of deer, dogs, greyhounds, hares and monkeys, whilst in realizing the plumage of peacocks, woodcocks, ducks, hawks, and cocks and hens, he had not his equal, nor was any artist even of the Dutch school more effective in relieving his compositions with accessories of tinted cloth,

porcelain

PORCELAIN

ware

WARE

, vases and fruit. He was not clever at figures, and he sometimes trusted for these to the co-operation of Cornelius Schut or Willeborts, whilst his architectural backgrounds were sometimes executed by Quellyn. " Silenus amongst Fruit and

Flowers

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

," in the Harrach collection at Vienna, " Diana and her Nymphs with the Produce of the Chase," in the Belvedere at Vienna, and " Dead Game and Fruit in front of a Triumphal Arch," belonging to Baron von Rothschild at Vienna, are specimens of the co-operation respectively of Schut, Willeborts and Quellyn. They are also Fyt's masterpieces. The earliest dated

work

WORK

of the master is a cat grabbing at a piece of dead poultry near a

hare

HARE
HARE, SIR JOHN (1844– )

and birds, belonging to Baron Cetto at Munich, and executed in 1644. The latest is a " Dead Snipewith Ducks," of 166o, sold with the Jager collection at Cologne in 1871.

Great

GREAT

power is shown in the

bear

and boar hunts at Munich and Ravensworth castle. A "Hunted Roedeer with Dogs in the Water," in the Berlin: Museum, has some of the life and more of the roughness of Snyders, but lacks variety of tint and finish. A splendid specimen is the Page and Parrot near a table covered with game, guarded by a dog staring at a monkey, in the Wallace collection. With the needle and the brush Fyt was equally clever. He etched 16 plates, and those representing dogs are of their kind unique.

End of Article: FYT, JOHANNES (1609-1661)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/FRA_GAE/FYT_JOHANNES_1609_1661_.html">
FYT, JOHANNES (1609-1661)
</a>

(Previous)
FYRD

(Next)
FYZABAD, or FAIZABAD

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email