Joseph van den KERKHOVE. - "Allégorie de la Géographie".

Two putty studying a terrestrial globe, one of them holding a pair of dividers. The information on the globe is clearly imaginary but the two cartouches and ships are typically 16th century in appearance. Was van den Kerkhove perhaps inspired by his countrymen Gerard Mercator, Hondius and Blaeu.

Joseph Vanden Kerkhove was a Flemish historical painter who was born Bruges in 1669 and died in 1724 aged 55. He was a disciple of Erasmus Quellinus the elder in whose school he showed himself studious and diligent and his proficiency was proportionable to his work.

When he began to practice his profession he went early to France where he found encouragement and in a few years returned to his own country with a good reception and always painting in the style of his master.
His colours are warm and his design correct, his composition is generally in the "grand taste" and he rarely introduced anything but what seemed necessary to embellish his subject.
He had thoroughly studied the principles of perspective and he was an expert in that branch of his art. The backgrounds of his pictures are usually enriched with classical architecture.

On the ceiling of the town hall at Ostend he painted a very fine design representing "the Council of the Gods" in which there is an ingenious and learned disposition of the figures and it is altogether a masterly execution.