Daniel Blok or Daniel von Block (1580–1660) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
Baroque painter.
Biography
According to Houbraken he was the son of Marten Blok of
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
. He was sent to learn the art of painting portraits from Jakob Scherer in
Gdańsk. He attracted the attention of
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, for whom he painted portraits.
Houbraken goes on to say that he made a genealogical and heraldic family tree for the Dukes of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and went from being painter to becoming courtier, but he lost everything in a fire in 1651 during the
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
. He survived and fled to Rostock, where he lived to the age of 80.
His son
Benjamin Block
Benjamin Block or Blok (1631–1690) was a seventeenth-century Germany, German-Hungary, Hungarian Baroque Painting, painter who married the flower painter Anna Katharina Block. He is known for his portrait paintings.
Biography
Block was born i ...
also became a court painter. According to the
RKD
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
, Daniel Block worked in
Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...
,
Daniel Block
in the RKD
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
but he must have been active in Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
also, since that is where his son was born in 1631.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blok, Daniel
1580 births
1660 deaths
German Baroque painters