Jan Frans van Douven, or Johan Francois Douven (2 March 1656, in

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...

– 1727, in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

) was a Southern Netherlandish portrait painter belonging to the Dutch Leyden School. Born in

, he spent most of his life as

Court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

in Düsseldorf, now in Germany, where he created most of his works.

Life and career

According to Houbraken, his father Gerard Douven was a canon priest in the Roermond chapter and had spent several years in Rome, where he learned to appreciate art. He gave his enthusiasm to his son taught him Latin by age eleven and some art techniques. His father died young however (aged 33), and his mother apprenticed him for two years in Liege under the supervision of the painter Gabriel Lambertin (who had also studied in Rome). When his cousin, the painter Chistopher Puitlink, returned from his Rome journey, the young Johan studied with him. His work was noticed by Don Jan Dellano Velasco, the minister of finance in Roermond for

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War ...

. He spent 3 years working for him, copying the works of Roman painters for his large painting cabinet.Johan Francois Douven biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the

Digital Library for Dutch Literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

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 ...

, he was the nephew of his teacher

Christoffel Puytlinck Christoffel Puytlinck, (Roermond, 11 November 1640 – Roermond, c. 1679) was a painter from Roermond (present-day Netherlands). He painted still lifes, chiefly gamepieces and live and dead fowl. Life and career Puytlinck was born in Roermond, L ...

, and the father of the painter Frans Bartholomeus Douven.Jan Frans van Douven
in the

. In 1682 he moved to Düsseldorf, as the official painter of the Court of Elector Palatine of

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhineland ...

, Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz-Neuburg (also called Jan Wellem by the local people). Starting from 1682 he worked on a series of paintings ordered by Elector Palatine. These paintings depict scenes from the quotidian life of the Prince and his second wife,

Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (11 August 1667 – 18 February 1743) was an Italian noblewoman who was the last lineal descendant of the main branch of the House of Medici. A patron of the arts, she bequeathed the Medicis' large art collection, in ...

(''Scenes from the life of the Court of Düsseldorf''). Van Douven played a major role in the establishment of the Painting Gallery of the Palace of Düsseldorf. Van Douven also travelled to Vienna, accompanying the Elector Palatine on a journey. On this occasion he painted the portraits of the Emperor and the Empress. He also painted portraits of other princes and aristocrats or celebrities, such as the renowned musician

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , , ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence o ...

Works (selection)

Image: Jan_Frans_Douven_Jan_Wellem.jpg, Portrait of Jan Wellem Image:Jan Frans van Douven 003.jpg, Portrait of Jan Wellem Image: Jan_Frans_Douven_Anna_Maria_Luisa_de_Medici.jpg, Portrait of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Image:Anna maria luisa de medici hunting dress.jpg, Portrait of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici in hunting dress Image:Jan Frans van Douven 004.jpg, Elector Palatine and his wife in Spanish costumes, dancing Image:Karl III. Philipp von der Pfalz.jpg, Portrait of Karl III Philipp von der Pfalz Image:Grand_Duke CosimoIII_of_Tuscany_by_van_Douven.jpg, Portrait of

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdina ...

Image:Arcangelo Corelli 2.jpg, Portrait of Arcangelo Corelli

References

External links

*Biografias y Vidas
Jan Frans van Douven
*International Auctioneers
Jan Frans van Douven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douven, Jan Frans Van 1656 births 1727 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters 17th-century German painters German male painters 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists People from Roermond Court painters