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Lot Essay
Bartolomeus van Bassen, who specialised in painting monumental palace and church interiors, was also a successful architect. He was employed by Frederick V (the exiled 'Winter King' of Bohemia) and Prince Frederick Henry, and received various other significant commissions in The Hague and the city of Arnhem, including the town hall.
Van Bassen collaborated with Esaias van de Velde on around 30 extant pictures in the 1620s; Van Bassen executing the architectural settings and Van de Velde adding the figures. A similarly sumptuous interior on which they collaborated is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (see G.S. Keyes, Esaias van den Velde, Groningen, 1984, p. 169, no. I, fig. 350). Their output was highly prized in their own lifetime; an inventory drawn up in 1626 of the collection of Cornelis Cornelisz. van Leeuwen, from Delft, included no fewer than ten collaborative paintings by Van Bassen and Van de Velde (ibid., pp. 86-7).
Van Bassen collaborated with Esaias van de Velde on around 30 extant pictures in the 1620s; Van Bassen executing the architectural settings and Van de Velde adding the figures. A similarly sumptuous interior on which they collaborated is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (see G.S. Keyes, Esaias van den Velde, Groningen, 1984, p. 169, no. I, fig. 350). Their output was highly prized in their own lifetime; an inventory drawn up in 1626 of the collection of Cornelis Cornelisz. van Leeuwen, from Delft, included no fewer than ten collaborative paintings by Van Bassen and Van de Velde (ibid., pp. 86-7).