COQUES, Gonzales
(b. 1614, Antwerpen, d. 1684, Antwerpen)

Interior with Figures in a Picture Gallery

1672
Oil on canvas, 176 x 211 cm
Mauritshuis, The Hague

It is noticeable in this painting that the strong perspective based on the central axis has still retained its traditional character. The architecture of the ostentatious hall, with their great columns, cornices and sculptured ornamentation represent the Late Baroque sense of theatrical opulence.

Coques's share in this and similar compositions was mainly limited to the portraits of the collectors; it has been demonstrated that the architecture was the work of specialized painters such as Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg. But neither are the 'paintings within the painting' Coques's work; on the contrary, these are small-sized copies executed in their own hands by the painters of the original works.




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