Balthasar van Cortbemde [1] ( Antwerp, 8 April 1612 – Antwerp, prior to 24 December 1663) was a Flemish painter, copyist and art dealer. He is only known for one painting. [2]
Balthasar van Cortbemde was born in Antwerp as a son of the art dealer Philips van Cortbemde and Catharine Verluyt. [3]
He was registered as a pupil of Jan Blanckaert in 1626. [3] He became a master of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1631. [4] On 26 March 1637 he married Ursula van Hoecke, the sister of the painter Jan van den Hoecke. The couple has six children. [3]
Starting from 1648 he delivered paintings to the Antwerp art dealer Matthijs Musson. Amongst others, he produced copies after Anthony van Dyck. [2] He was also active as an art dealer himself. [3]
He received various pupils including Ingenacieus de Raet, Gloyde Verhyen, Francoys van Nuffelen, Gilam van Hoecke, Jonas Aerck and Francis Peeters. [4]
Balthasar van Cortbemde is only known for one painting, The Good Samaritan dated 1647 ( Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp). [3] The work was executed for the Corporation of Surgeons of Antwerp. [5] It depicts a scene from the biblical Parable of the Good Samaritan. It shows the Samaritan traveler who has descended from his horse and is nursing the wounds of a man who was injured by robbers. According to the parable a Levite and priest had also passed the injured man without helping him. The painting shows the Levite on the left behind a tree and a little more in the distance the priest reading a book. [6] This work shows that the artist was a talented artist. [3]