according to Gerard van Honthorst (1590-1656), Picture, approx. 70,5 x 57 cm, 23 colours, 9 stitches/1 cm, Gobelin with petit-point-section
The Utrecht painter Gerard van Honthorst went to Rome at the age of twenty to work for the high clergy, the Roman nobility and the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Because of his night-time depictions with artificial lighting he was called "Gerard of the nights". His most important works, mainly borrowed from the religious sphere, "The Beheading of John the Baptist" (Rome: "Sta. Maria della Scala"), "Mary with Saints" (Rome) and "The Nativity" (Florence: "Uffizi"), date from this period. Returning to Holland, he painted his famous candlelight pictures - popular themes from the world of drinking and gambling, but then switched to classical and mythological depictions. After working at the English court, Honthorst worked as court painter to the Orange court from 1637 until shortly before his death.
