Anthonie Goubau Biography

Anthonie Goubau was an antwerp Flemish painter. In 1629 he was apprenticed to Jan Farius and seven years later became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint-Luke. He lived in Rome from 1644 until 1650. He is known primarily as a painter of market scenes situated in Roman or Mediterranean settings and often decorated with many tiny figures. His journey to Italy and his introduction to the work of such masters as Paul Bril, Jan Miel, Michiel Sweerts and Johannes Lingelbach were of decisive importance for his development. On his return to Antwerp, he painted Italianate landscapes in the style of Bartholomeus Breenbergh and Jan Both. Rather than rendering exact topographical views, he wanted to evoke a Roman atmosphere. His earliest dated work, the Market Scene near the Triumphal Arch of Titus (1658), illustrates this clearly. Actual architectural features, such as the Arch of Titus and the ruins of the Temple of Saturn in the Forum Romanum, are combined with imaginary structures or buildings from elsewhere. The artist wanted to give a kind of synthesis of what could be seen in Rome. Other works, however, such as the View of the Piazza Navona (1680), reveal a more specific topographical interest. Apart from townscapes, he also made a number of religious compositions, mostly intended for churches in Antwerp.