Hendrick Govaerts (Mechelen, Belgium, 1680 – Antwerp, Belgium, 1720)

Born in Mechelen in 1680, Hendrick Govaerts is later recorded in several Central European cities, including Frankfurt am Main, Prague, and Vienna.

He is best known for his genre portraits, featuring joyful and allegorical scenes often inspired by carnival and the commedia dell’arte.

In 1699, he taught at the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp, where he married in 1702.

After becoming a widower, he remarried a few years later, in 1707.

Several artists of the time trained under him, including Carel Beschey and Bonaventura Peeters the Younger.

The artist died in 1720 after a long illness.

Photo UniCredit Group (Sebastiano Pellion di Persano)