Jan Asselijn ( 1610 – October 1, 1652) was a

Dutch Golden Age painter Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republi ...

Biography

Asselijn was born at

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

from a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

family as ''Jean Asselin''. He received instruction from

Esaias van de Velde Esaias van de Velde (17 May 1587 (baptized) – 18 November 1630 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, mainly of landscapes and a printmaker who experimented with etching. Biography He was born in Amsterdam, where his Flemish father H ...

(1587–1630), and distinguished himself particularly in

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 ...

and animal painting, though his historical works and battle pieces are also admired. He traveled in France and Italy, and modeled his style after Bamboccio (

Pieter van Laer Pieter Bodding van Laer (christened 14 December 1599, in Haarlem – 1641 or later) was a Dutch Painting, painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He was active in Rome for over a decade and was known for Genre works, genre scenes, animal paintings a ...

), also a member of the

Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which incl ...

. Nicolaes de Helt Stockade and Asselijn married two sisters in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

s in 1645, both daughters of Houwaart Koorman of

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 ...

. According to Houbraken, he heard this story from

Abraham Genoels Abraham Genoels II or Abraham Genouil (nickname: Archimedes) (25 May 1640 – 10 May 1723) was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer. He is now mainly known for his landscape paintings, drawings and prints. He h ...

, who in turn heard it from Laurens Frank, an artist who was staying in the Koorman household with Artus Quellinus in Lyons at the time. Their marriages brought both Asselijn and Helt-Stockade back to the Netherlands after their travels.Jan Asselyn biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by

Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch people, Dutch Painting, painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadt ...

, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature Asselijn had a withered hand and was small of stature, which gave him the nickname in France of ''petit Jean Hollandois'', and which gave him the nickname ''Krabbetje'' (little claw) in the

. He seems to have befriended

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

. In the etching that Rembrandt made of him, Asselijn appears in some states to be standing before an easel. His hands are not shown. Frederick de Moucheron, another Italianate landscape painter, was his pupil. He was one of the first Dutch painters who introduced a fresh and clear manner of painting landscapes in the style of Claude Lorraine, and his example was speedily followed by other artists. Asselijn's pictures were in high estimation at Amsterdam, and several of them are in the museums of that city. Twenty-four, painted in Italy, were engraved. One of his paintings, ''The Threatened Swan'', which portrays a swan aggressively defending its nest, became a symbol of Dutch national resistance, although it is unknown if Asselijn intended it to be so. In particular, it was interpreted as a depiction of

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch statesman and mathematician who was a major political figure during the First Stadtholderless Period, when flourishing global trade in a period of rapid European colonial exp ...

. Several inscriptions were added by later owners of the painting, including "Holland" on one of the eggs, and "Enemy of the state" next to the dog that is threatening the nest. Some parts of the painting are less realistic than the swan, such as the low-hanging clouds, the dog and the flat-looking eggs. The painting has been dated to the 1640s. It is considered to be Asselijn's most famous work and was the Rijksmuseum's first acquisition. Willem Schellinks' ''City Wall in the Winter'' was long thought to be Asselijn's, until the painting was restored and the original monogram was revealed.Haak (1984), p. 473.

Gallery

File:De bedreigde zwaan Rijksmuseum SK-A-4.jpeg, '' The Threatened Swan'', one of the major works in the Rijksmuseum File:Ruitergevecht bij zonsondergang. Rijksmuseum SK-A-5.jpeg, ''Cavalry charge at sunset''. In the middle a kneeling musketman fires at an onrushing rider on a white horse. File:SA 2481-De doorbraak van de St. Anthonisdijk in 1651-De doorbraak van de St. Anthonisdijk bij Houtewael in de nacht van 5 op 6 maart 1651.jpg, ''St. Anthonisdijk'' or ''St. Anthony's dyke breach at Houtewael burst in the night of 5–6 March 1651'' File:Asselijn Jan - Flight into Egypt.jpg, Flight into Egypt, 1640 circa File:Ezeldrijvers bij een Italiaanse ruïne Rijksmuseum SK-C-89.jpeg, ''Italian Landscape with the Ruins of a Roman Bridge and Aqueduct, undated, oil on canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam File:Asselijn Catching crayfish.JPG, ''Catching Crayfish'', circa 1645

Footnotes

External links

Jan Asselijn
in the

RKD 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asselijn, Jan 1610s births 1652 deaths People from Dieppe, Seine-Maritime Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Members of the Bentvueghels Dutch people of French descent