Travel Tip: Art and Archaeology in Germany
Elegance and Rough Manners: Cornelis Bega

On display are a representative selection of around 40 paintings, 20 drawings and several etchings, especially from the work of Haarlem painter Cornelis Bega (1631/32-1664) final years, during which he attained an inspired painterly elegance and a strong sophistication in colour.


Cornelis Bega: Zwei trinkende und rauchende Dirnen, 1663
© Städel Museum, Frankfurt/Main

All the subjects of this most versatile and virtuosic of painters
are represented: peasants in disreputable drinking dens or sensual couples playing music, as well as scenes of modest family life or obscure scientists at work in their laboratories. Various themes and motifs in the paintings are complemented by Bega's masterful drawings.