Hendrik Munnichhoven

Hendrick Munnichhoven
Born Probably Stockholm
Died August 1664
Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality Swedish
Occupation Painter
Known for Copyist style
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie with his spouse Maria Eufrosyne of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, the sister of King Charles X of Sweden. Painting from 1653 by Hendrik Munnichhoven. The picture is filled with symbolic details: Magnus Grabriel is standing lower than his wife because she is sister of the king; their holding hands symbolizes fidelity; the bean in Maria Eufrosyne's hand shows that she is pregnant. The painting is regarded as one of the finest from the early Swedish baroque era.

Hendrick Munnichhoven (even Hendrik Munnikhoven, and Münnichhoven), probably born in Stockholm, death in August 1664 in Stockholm, was a Swedish painter. He was hired in 1650 by Queen Christina of Sweden and was commissioned to paint several portraits.[1] Munnikhoven was mainly active as a copyist of other artists' works; one of his copies of David Beck's painting of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie is on display at Gripsholm Castle.[1]

In 1648 he joined the service of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie in Prague; he accompanied De la Gardie to Leipzig, Riga and Stockholm during the next years.[1] He performed several portraits of De la Gardie and his relatives. When Queen Christina abdicatated in 1654 he moved to Charles X Gustav of Sweden's services and portraited in the following years the King and Queen Hedvig Eleonora.

In 1660 He moved to Riga, but his stay there was short-lived and he returned to Stockholm, where he died in 1664. His older sister Barbara Swever took over his paint shop.

Works

Of his Swedish production, he performed including three major paintings for De la Gardie, a painting of Hercules, Venus and Cupid, Venus with a full-length and one with Mars on a drum. Although these works have been lost, there are a number of surviving portraits of Munnichhoven own as well as copies of others' works. His works include the large double portrait of De la Gardie and Countess Palatine Maria Eufrosyne of Zweibrücken, as well as that of Beata Elisabet von Königsmarck.

He should not be confused with the Dutch painter Hendrick Munniks.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hendrik Münnichhoven.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hendrik Münnichhoven in the RKD
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