Jacob de Formentrou

Jacob de Formentrou or Jacob de Fourmentrou was a Flemish Baroque painter active in Antwerp who specialized in the genres of merry companies and gallery paintings.

Life

Very little is known about the life of Jacob de Formentrou. In the years 1640-1641 he is mentioned as a pupil in the records of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke. He subsequently became a master of the Guild and was still registered as such in 1659.
The painting A gentleman courting a lady music making in a courtyard dated 1668 constitutes the last recorded information on de Formentrou.

Work

Only a few works by his hand are known today. These can all be classified as genre paintings, in particular paintings of merry companies and gallery pictures.

Merry companies

The few paintings attributed to de Formentrou include the paintings Interior of an art gallery and Elegant company on a terrace, both in private collections as well as Playing Backgammon. The first two belong to the genre of the merry company depicting a group of people enjoying themselves. The genre was popular in Flanders as well as in the Dutch Republic in the 17th century.