Klaas Muller
Jan Boeckhorst (Münster 1604-1668 Antwerp)
Triumphant Christ
Oil on panel
63 x 34cm
With a regency carved and gilted frame
The Münster-born Boeckhorst (nicknamed ‘Lange Jan’) was one of Ruben's best-known pupils. After Ruben's death, he would complete several of the master's projects. Naturally, Boeckhorst was greatly influenced by his master; the composition of this work, for example, is partly derived from Ruben's ‘Glorification of the Eucharist’ (oil sketch, MET museum, NY).
Boeckhorst treated the theme several times in drawings, oil sketches and finished paintings. The most similar version is ‘Christ with the Repentant Sinners’ (canvas, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina) in which he repeats the exact same composition of legs. Stylistically, the work is very typical of the painter and shows influences of both Rubens and Van Dyck. We can date our work around 1650 when Boeckhorst took commissions from churches and monasteries in Antwerp but also beyond. These are mostly altarpieces with the typical triumphalist slant.