Triumph of Bacchus

Claes Moeyaert belonged to the small group categorized as Pre-Rembrandtists. The group includes Pieter Lastman (c. 1583-1633), Jan Pynas (1581/2-1631) and his younger brother Jacob (1592/95-after 1656), their brother-in-law Jan Tengnagel (1584-1635), Lastman's brother-in-law François Venant (1590/91-1636), and Moeyaert.

Moeyaert early works are a 'potpourri' of Lastman, Jacob Pynas, and Bril. He found his speciality in the mid-1620s: small pictures of bacchanals characterized by a silver-gray tonality. The animals in his lusty processions usually have as much character as the revellers who accompany them.

Reproduction courtesy of Bernard Huyvaert's Dutch 17th century.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 7 minutes): Camille Saint-Saëns: Samson et Delila, Act III, Scene 2, Bacchanal