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The Apostle Simon

Creator

Flemish Artist · 1599–1641

The seventh of twelve children born to a wealthy silk merchant in Belgium, Anthony van Dyck began to paint at an early age. By the age of nineteen, he had become a teacher in Antwerp. Soon afterward, he collaborated and trained with the famous Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. In his early twenties, van Dyck went to Italy, where he studied the paintings of Titian and Paolo Veronese and worked as

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Date: about 1618
Medium: Oil on panel
Culture: Flemish
Department: Paintings
Institution: Getty Museum

Inspired by a series of apostles that Rubens painted in 1610 for the Duke of Lerma, Spain's chief minister, Anthony van Dyck set about making his own similar series, including this painting of the Apostle Simon. Simon is shown bust-length, his head turned so that his profile is "lost" or partially obscured by shadow. His left hand rests on a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. Light falls from the top left, creating highlights and deep shadows across his head, face, hand, and clothing. Draperies are broadly painted and richly colored, while the apostle's hair, eyebrows, and beard are finely painted to convey their wavy, silky texture.

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