Cornelis van Dalem (1530-1573)

• Was a Flemish painter and draughtsman.
• He was active in Antwerp in the middle of the 16th century.
• He was likely born in Antwerp.
• His father was a nobleman originally from Tholen.
• Cornelis and his older brother Lodewijk likely enjoyed a humanistic education and were both trained as painters with the obscure artist Jan Adriaensens.
• Cornelis commenced his training in 1543 and became a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in 1556.
• The same year married Beatrix van Liedekercke, a member of a wealthy family.
• Landscape with nomads with Jan van Wechelen 

Despite being a member of the Guild of Saint Luke, Cornelis van Dalem only practiced painting as an amateur and he remained a merchant his entire career.

• He was independently wealthy and did not need to rely on his art to make a living.

• However, he regarded art as an important part of his life as is demonstrated by the way he decorated the facade of his Antwerp residence.

• The façade had a relief of the goddess Pictura in front of an easel, of Minerva and Mercury as well the stone busts of Dürer and Jan van Eyck with laudatory inscriptions.

• Bartholomäus Spranger was a registered pupil of van Dalem from 1560 to 1564.

• Van Dalem appears not to have been concerned much about teaching Spranger the art of painting but more about ensuring that his apprentice kept his studio clean and tidy.

• At the end of his four years of apprenticeship, Spranger is said to have been frustrated about his lack of progress.

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