Morten Steenwinkel Explained

Morten Steenwinkel (1595, Varberg  - 1646, Copenhagen), was a Danish architect and painter.

Biography

According to Houbraken he was a good animal painter specialized in horses.^[1] In 1640 he came to the court of Christian IV where one of his life-sized horses was so well-painted that a live horse sprang at it thinking it was real.^{[1] [2]}

According to the RKD he was the teacher of the Danish painter Bernhard Keil and the son of Hans Steenwinkel.^[3] He traveled to Italy in 1629.^[3] In 1632 he was back north where he became a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke.^[4] He was followed by Adriaen Hansz Muiltjes.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Steenwinkel Biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
2. As Houbraken points out, this type of anecdote is a favorite theme in biographies of artists since Zeuxis.
3. https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/74865 Morten Steenwinkel
4. http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/aa__001biog21_01/aa__001biog21_01_0742.php Martin or Geraerd Steenwinkel