Cornelis van Dalem

Who was Cornelis van Dalem?

Cornelis van Dalem was a Flemish painter, who was born in Antwerp. His father was a wealthy Dutch-born merchant who provided him with a good education in the liberal arts. He remained a merchant for his entire life, painting only as an amateur. Nevertheless his paintings were greatly esteemed; Peter Paul Rubens owned one of his works, and another is featured in The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest.

In 1543 he became a pupil of the obscure artist Jan Adriaensens. He became a master in the guild of painters in 1556, and in the same year married Beatrix van Liedekercke, a member of a wealthy family. Dalem and his wife, who accounts suggest were Protestants, had to leave Amsterdam for Breda in 1565 .

Dalem limited himself to landscape painting; where figures in his paintings are present they were added by other artists. One of his students was Bartholomäus Spranger, who studied under him from 1560-64.

He was possibly the father of Cornelis Cornelisz Dalem, and was the brother of Lodewijk van Dalem, also an artist.