Background
Codde was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on December 11, 1599. He was the son of Jacob Pietersz and Marije Jans. Pieter Codde had a sister, Claer Jacobs Codde, and a brother, Jan Jacobsz Kod.
Codde was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on December 11, 1599. He was the son of Jacob Pietersz and Marije Jans. Pieter Codde had a sister, Claer Jacobs Codde, and a brother, Jan Jacobsz Kod.
Pieter Codde is believed to have studied with Frans Hals. However, it is more likely that he was trained by Barent van Someren, a portrait painter, actor, art-dealer, and inn-keeper, or perhaps by Cornelis van der Voort.
Codde's earliest painting was Portrait of a Young Man, a piece from 1626. By 1628 he was living in the Sint Antoniesbreestraat, then a fashionable street in Amsterdam with many painters. Most of his best-remembered artworks were executed in Amsterdam and included mainly small-scale paintings. His works were distinct in their silvery-grey tonalities, and many of them were musically themed, such as, for example, Dancing Lesson, his first known genre work, from 1627, Musical Company of 1639, The Lute Player and, Concert, a piece now in the Uffizi Gallery.
In 1637 the artist was called upon to finish the work on the group portrait, Officers of the Company of the Amsterdam Crossbow Civic Guard Under Captain Reynier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw, that Frans Hals started in 1633 and refused to complete because he would not come to Amsterdam for sittings.
Pieter Codde imitated Hals's style of painting so well that experts still disagree where the work of the one ends and the other begins. It’s thought that Frans Hals completed only the outline of the composition, painting only some faces and hands, and one figure on the far left. The rest was credited entirely to Codde. The piece has become known as, The Meagre Company, from a comment by the critic, Jan van Dijk who said the work was barren and frail, so it "might rightfully be called the meagre company." Pieter Codde also created historical religious artworks, such as his, Adoration of the Shepherds, from 1645.
Codde was known to be an art teacher. Willem Duyster was one of his pupils, who was about the same age, and Jacob Duck was also influenced by him. Adriaen Brouwer, Gerard Terborch, and Pieter Quast also belonged to this group of painters who developed the style of genre scene inspired by Pieter Codde.
Pieter Codde became a prominent figure in the world of art due to his excellent talent. He gained popularity after creating such artworks as Portrait of a Child, Smoking Painter, The Music Party, Elegant Company Making Music, An Elegant Company Making Music in An Interior, A Soldier, An Old Woman and a Young Woman, among others.
The Actors' Changing Room
The Music Party
Young Scholar in His Study. Melancholy
Portrait of a Man
Elegant Company Making Music
Adoration of the Shepherds
A Conversation
The Joy of Playing
Musical Company
Woman Combing Her Hair
Merry Company
Art Lovers in a Painter's Studio
The Young Draughtsman
Portrait of a Young Man Standing
A Conversation Between An Artist and a Connoisseur
Venus Mourning over Adonis
Merry Company
Lute Player
The Dancing Lesson
Portrait of a Child
Merry Company with Masked Dancers
The Meagre Company
An Elegant Company Making Music in An Interior
Dutch Cavaliers and Their Ladies Making Music
A Woman Holding a Mirror
Double Portrait of a Married Couple
Halt of Travellers Among Ruins
Family Group
Portraits of a Man, A Woman and a Boy in a Room
Merry Company
A Lady Seated at a Virginal
An Elegant Company
Portrait of the Family Twent in An Interior
A Soldier, An Old Woman and a Young Woman
Gallant Company
Smoking Painter
A Lady and a Cavalier
Codde married the 18-year-old girl, Marritje Arents, in 1623. The marriage produced one child, Clara Codde. In 1636 they divorced after he was charged with raping the maid. But nothing could be proved, so he was only locked up for one night. Later he had romantic affair with his maid, Barendje Willems, who inherited most of his property after his death.
