Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg

1630 – 1676

Flemish painter. Some sources states that he was born in Germany in 1637 and he died between 1687 or 1707. He entered the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1662 and resided in Antwerp for most of his life. It is possible that he travelled to Italy as he made drawings of Italian subjects. He specialized in architectural paintings including real and imaginary church interiors, Renaissance palaces and picture galleries. In his paintings he created fantastic Renaissance palaces and churches that reflect his interest in the stage, for his designs often evoke theatrical sets and use dramatic light effects. In addition to paintings of church interiors, he worked also in the genre of the gallery paintings. Paintings of this genre depicts large rooms in which many paintings and other precious items are displayed in elegant surroundings. The earliest works in this genre depicted art objects together with other items such as scientific instruments or peculiar natural specimens. The majority of his pictures were painted between 1660 and 1670. He often collaborated with other artists who added the figures or animals. His collaborators included Hendrik van Minderhout, Gaspar de Witte (1624-1681), Hieronymus Janssens and Charles Emmanuel Biset. His son Peter Schubert von Ehrenberg (born 1668) was also an artist who had a successful career as a painter, engraver and stage designer in Vienna.

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