Robert van Audenaerde

Robert van Audenaerde or Ouden-Aerd was a Flemish painter and engraver.

He was born at Ghent, and was first a scholar of Francis van Mierhop, but he afterwards studied under Hans van Cleef. When he was twenty-two years of age he went to Rome, where he became a disciple of Carlo Maratti. Under this master he became a good painter of historical subjects. He amused himself with the point in his leisure moments, and some of his plates were shown to Carlo Maratti, who recommended him to devote himself entirely to the art of engraving. He, however, painted several pictures for the churches of his native city, to which he returned after an absence, it is said, of thirty-seven years. He died at Ghent in 1748. His best work is the altar-piece of the high altar in the church of the Carthusians at Ghent, representing 'St. Peter appearing to a group of Monks of that order'. In the church of St. James is a picture by him of 'St. Catharine refusing to worship the False Gods'. Several other works by this master are in the churches and convents of his native city, all of which are painted in the style of Maratti.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023