The Calamities of Humanity

Kerstiaen de Keuninck or De Coninck’s favourite subjects were fantastic landscapes and mannerist visions with theatrical lighting effects. His style of painting is sketchy and strikingly dynamic. It is not known whether De Keuninck was inspired in his work by real landscapes or by the work of other masters. The representation of The Calamities of Humanity and the destruction of…

Kerstiaen de Keuninck or De Coninck’s favourite subjects were fantastic landscapes and mannerist visions with theatrical lighting effects. His style of painting is sketchy and strikingly dynamic. It is not known whether De Keuninck was inspired in his work by real landscapes or by the work of other masters. The representation of The Calamities of Humanity and the destruction of the world is linked to a sixteenth-century tradition in which Jheronimus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder played a role. The theme alludes to the turbulent history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. No real facts are known about the identification of the saint with the cross and the lamb in the foreground on the left. This is probably a personification of the Faith.