Cornelis Molenaer
Flemish, 1540 - 1589
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Cornelis Molenaer or Cornelis Molenaar Flemish Renaissance painter known for his landscapes with biblical scenes.
Molenaer was born and died in Antwerp. According to Karel van Mander he was called Schele Neel, or "cross-eyed Neel". He was a good landscape painter with little feeling for figures. He hired himself out for a day's wages (one daalder) and could paint a complete landscape in one day in the "watercolor way", without a maulstick. For a grassy field he charged 7 stuivers.
According to van Mander, Molenaer enjoyed drinking. Works in progress at home were seldom finished, which is perhaps why he became a wage-earner, so that patrons could keep an eye on his work. The painter Jan Nagel was his follower but this painter could not match his style of landscapes, but was better at figures.
His son Jan de Meuleneer was a genre painter and his grandson Pieter Meulener was a prominent battle and landscape painter.