Gerrit Van Honthorst

Gerrit or Gerard van Honthorst was one of the leading members of the Utrecht School during the Golden Age. Honthorst was first introduced to the basics of painting by his father. The first real training took place in the studio of Abraham Bloemaert , who also taught Hendrik Terbrugghen. After completing his training, Honthorst, like many of his colleagues during this period, went to Italy, where they studied modern and ancient Italian art. In Rome his most important patrons were the banker and art collector Vincenzo Giustiniani and Cardinal Borghese. Giustiniani, in whose palace Honthorst lived, possessed a considerable collection of contemporary Italian art. This included works by Caravaggio , Bartolomeo Manfredi and Carracci . Caravaggio's style in particular strongly influenced Honthorst's later works. Honthorst had a special talent for depicting scenes in artificial light and mastered the associated light-shadow effects to perfection. Often the whole evening scene was illuminated by a single candle, as in "Adoration of the Child". This earned him the nickname Gherardo della Notte (Gherardo of the Night) in Italy.