17th Century Flemish

An outstanding painter from the Antwerp School though unfortunately there is little recorded information on his life. He was born around 1625, most likely in Brussels, where he was active from 1654—the year when he was admitted as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke—until his death in 1678.

He would probably have been a pupil of his own father (about whom there is no precise information), and of David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690), who left a profound mark on his work. Also traceable in his style—adapted to the specific subject matter of the work in question—is the influence of other Flemish and Dutch artists, like Joos van Craesbeeck (ca.1605-06-ca.1660) and David Ryckaert III (1612-1661) in folk images, and of Gonzales Coques (ca.1614-18-1684) in the depictions of bourgeois scenes, which also show the influence of Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684) and Jacob Ochtervelt (1634-1682).

Throughout his career, the painter specialised in group portraits of the high society of the time. However, he achieved his greatest popularity for his genre scenes with peasants. Also remarkable in his oeuvre are his landscapes and cabinet paintings, a sub-genre highly characteristic of Antwerp which Gillis van Tilborgh imbued with an allegorical meaning removed from the usual simple factual depiction.