A Cobbler

DAVID RYCKAERT III

1612-Antwerp-1661

Provenance:
Count F. C. Moltke, Bregentved.
His sale,  Winkel & Magnussen, in Moltke’s mansion, 1931, no. 117, ill. p. 39.
Bruun Rasmussen auction 34, 1952 no. 173, ill. p. 86 (here erroneously listed with the dimensions 75 x 81 cm)
Private collection Denmark

Literature:
Catalogue des tableaux de la collection du comte de Moltke Copenhagen 1885/1913, no 18
Catalogue of Valuable Pictures by Old Dutch Masters – The property of The Count F. C. Moltke of Bregentved 1932
Bernadette Van Haute, David III Ryckaert a seventeenth century Flemish painter of peasant scenes, Brepols 1999, no. A 52

An old cobbler sits alone in his workshop. His body is turned slightly to the right so that the light slanting in from the left catches his profile, sharply highlighting the bearded face. His bald head is covered with a feathered cap, and an apron protects his clothes while working on the shoe fastened to his left thigh. On the wall behind him a piece of paper and a new pair of shoes. A small square table is in front of him carrying the cobbler’s tools. A tree-stump with a hammer, a piece of leather and a boot fill up the left hand corner, counter balanced on the opposite side by a wooden bassin partly filled with water. The for Ryckaert usual motif of a Chimney with a peasant sitting in front of the burning fire is placed in the middle background, making space for the cup-board on the right side.

The theme of a cobbler in his workplace was  a favourite subject for Ryckaert. He depicted cobblers in a variety of paintings. Sometimes he used a part of a painting in another. In other cases he painted the complete composition twice. There are two versions of this painting of a cobbler.  The very similar painting with slightly different measurements and differences in details was with Caretto in the 1990s and published by van Haute.
Bernadette van Haute proposed a date of 1642 based on the striking resemblance between the figure of the cobbler and that of the old man singing in a 1642 dated painting in her catalogue (A 49).
The Moltkeske collection was an 18^th century collection which was open for public during the whole 19^th century.
David Ryckaert III was born in Antwerp on 2 December 1612 and was baptized in the St. James’ Church on the same date. He was the second of three children of David Rijckaert II and Katelijne de Meere (or Catharina de Merre). As the only son, he was named after his father. A member of the Ryckaert (or Rijckaert) family of artists, he was the grandson of David Rijckaert I and the nephew of Marten Ryckaert.
David Ryckaert III was a pupil of his father. He became master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in 1636-37 and was registered as a ‘wijnmeester’, i.e. the son of a master. He held the position of dean of the Guild in 1652–53.  He was the teacher of Hans la Croys, Jacob Lafosse II and Erasmus de Bie. His sister Margaret married his father’s pupil Gonzales Coques.
David Ryckaert III worked his entire career in Antwerp. He married on 31 August 1647 with Jacoba Palmans with whom he had eight children. His work was very well received and one of his patrons was Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the Governor of the Southern Netherlands from 1647 until 1656.

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