Jan Matsys or Jan Massijs (c.1510 – 8 October 1575) was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

Renaissance painter known for his

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

s, genre scenes and

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s. He also gained a reputation as a painter of the female nude, which he painted with a sensuality reminiscent of the

school of Fontainebleau The School of Fontainbleau () () refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late French Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming Northern Mannerism, and represent the first majo ...

."Jan Massys"

Jane Campbell Hutchison Jane Campbell Hutchison (July 20, 1932 – July 12, 2020) was an American art historian specialising in the old master prints of the Northern Renaissance. She was best known for her 1990 biography of Albrecht Dürer, which was translated into Ger ...

and

Jan Van der Stock Jan Van der Stock (born Antwerp, 1959) is a Belgian art historian and exhibition curator. He is a full professor at the University of Leuven, where he lectures on Medieval and Renaissance Arts, Graphic Arts, Iconography, Iconology, and Curatorship ...

. Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 May. 2017

Life

He was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, the son of leading Antwerp painter Quinten Matsys and the older brother of

Cornelis Cornelis is a Dutch language, Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius (name), Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees (given name), Kees, Neel and Nelis. Cornelis (Kees) an ...

, who became a painter and engraver.Jan Massijs
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

He trained under his father. He was admitted, together with his brother Cornelis, as a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1531, a year after their father's death. It is assumed that he left Antwerp immediately thereafter and worked for a while in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

, but these facts are not firmly established.Lauran Toorians, Eerherstel voor Jan Massys
in: Ons Erfdeel. Jaargang 39. Stichting Ons Erfdeel, Rekkem/Raamsdonksveer 1996 He was back in Antwerp by 1536. He married his cousin Anna van Tuylt in 1538. The couple had three children. In 1544 Jan and his brother Cornelis were banned from Antwerp because of their religious beliefs. It is possible that Jan went to Fontainebleau and Germany.Jean Matsys
at the

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

, Volume 14, pp. 633–638 It is certain that he spent time in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. He returned to Antwerp before the end of 1555 when the ban imposed on him was ended. He was then involved in a number of court cases with his brothers and sisters over the distribution of inheritances. He had been sufficiently rehabilitated for the local city council to commission several works from him. These works were destroyed in 1576 when Spanish troops set the city hall on fire during the

Spanish Fury The Spanish Fury (or the Spanish Terror) was a number of violent sackings of cities (lootings) in the Low Countries or Benelux, mostly by Spanish Habsburg armies, that happened in the years 1572–1579 during the Dutch Revolt. In some cases, the ...

and the

Sack of Antwerp The sack of Antwerp, often known as the Spanish Fury at Antwerp, was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. It is the greatest massacre in the history of the Low Countries. On 4 November 1576, mutinying Spanish tercios of the Army of Flanders ...

. Jan Matsys had died the year before, in Antwerp, having been reduced to a state bordering on poverty. His son

Quentin Quentin is a French masculine given name derived from the Latin first name ''Quintinus'', a diminutive form of ''Quintus'', which means "the fifth". Albert Dauzat, ''Noms et prénoms de France'', Librairie Larousse 1980, édition revue et comment� ...

had become a master of the Guild of St. Luke in 1574 and died in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 1589. Jan's daughter Susan emigrated to Italy. It is assumed that Jan's children left Antwerp for religious reasons. His known pupils are Frans van Tuylt (in 1536), Frans de Witte (in 1543) and Olivier de Cuyper (in 1569).

Work

It is possible to distinguish three periods in the work of Jan Massys. During the first period before his exile of 1544, he collaborated with and worked in the style of his father. He also completed some works left unfinished at the time of his father's death. The first dated painting from this time is a ''St. Jerome in his cell'' of 1537, which is completely in his father's style.St. Jerome in his cell
at the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...

From the second period, which coincides with his banishment from Antwerp from 1544 to 1555, only 9 works can be traced. These works seem to show the influence of the

School of Fontainebleau The School of Fontainbleau () () refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late French Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming Northern Mannerism, and represent the first majo ...

. It remains unclear whether Jan Matsys actually went to Fontainebleau or underwent this influence in an indirect manner. During his stay in Italy he painted a portrait of

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influe ...

, which is one of the few instances that he painted portraits. Only two works from this period bear a signature and a date, both from 1552. After his return to Antwerp Jan reached the height of his artistic powers. He developed a distinct style and treated a number of subjects that became characteristic for his work. Remarkable is the important role that the female nude and eroticism play in his work. He frequently used

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

figures such as

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

, Susanna,

Bathsheba Bathsheba (; , ) was an Kings of Israel and Judah, Israelite queen consort. According to the Hebrew Bible, she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, with whom she had all of her five children. Her status as the mother of Solomon ...

and the daughters of Lot as an excuse to depict the female nude. The sensuality of these figures is reminiscent of the works of the School of Fontainebleau. The principal male characters he depicted were Tobias and

Elias Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated tradit ...

. Jan Matsys is sometimes regarded as one of the pioneers in Netherlandish art of certain secular subjects such as 'unequal love' (depicting a couple of widely different ages) and 'merry companies'. In these paintings temptation and purchased love always seem to play the main role. Other subjects he pioneered were the money changer, tax collector and the miser, although others see his father as the creator of this genre. These works are considered to have carried a moralizing purpose. Jan Matsys also painted a number of landscapes but his work in this genre is not as significant as that of his brother Cornelis.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matsys, Jan 1510s births 1575 deaths Flemish Mannerist painters Flemish landscape painters Flemish genre painters

Life

Work

References

Further reading

External links