Joannes de Cordua
1630–1702 · Spanish Netherlands · Baroque
The story
Joannes de Cordua was a Fleming who built his career far from Flanders. Marriage records in Vienna suggest he was born in Brussels, around 1630. In 1660 he was working for the Prince-Bishop of Freising, Albrecht Sigismund of Bavaria, and from 1663 he is documented in Vienna, where he married twice. In 1677 he obtained court freedom, a privilege that released him from guild membership and its taxes.
He painted peasant scenes, portraits and biblical subjects, and he is best remembered for still lifes, above all vanitas pictures of skulls, books and writing tools that remind the viewer of death. The Belvedere's Still Life with Copper Vessels shows the kitchen side of that work. He was active in both Vienna and Prague, and a Viennese record of the death of one Johann du Cortuova in 1702 is thought to refer to him.
