Abstract
In the Southern Netherlands, the popularity of the Caravaggesque style peaked between 1620 and 1630. Previous studies stated that, after 1630, Theodoor Rombouts (1597-1637) distanced himself from his earlier Caravaggesque influences significantly and adopted Rubens’ style in order to gain the favour of the Antwerp elite. However, after studying three of Rombouts paintings from 1634, Drinking Scene with Bacchus from the former Luigi Koelliker collection, The Backgammon Players at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh and The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine at the St. James Church in Antwerp, it can be argued that this assumption is not entirely correct and that Rombouts use of a particular style, or fusion thereof, was subject to genre and targeted clientele, in which he was guided by financial and publicity gains. Since he produced paintings in both styles simultaneously, Rombouts’ approach can be described as eclectic: a conscious assemblage of the main artistic trends of Caravaggism and popular hallmarks of the ‘Rubens school’. As one cannot speak of a clear linear stylistic development, the chronology of many of his undated paintings may have to be revised.