Jan Mostaert
Encyclopedia
Jan Mostaert, also known by the names Joannes Sinapius and Master Of Oultremont (c. 1475 – 1555/1556) was a Dutch
Renaissance painter of portraits and religious subjects, though his most famous creation was the "West Indies Landscape".
and had been a pupil of Jacob van Haarlem, the painter that painted the altarpiece of the Carrier's guild there in the St. Bavochurch. He was handsome, eloquent and polite, and claimed to be descended from the Haarlem knights of the Crusade to Damietta. He worked eighteen years as portraitist for Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands. He died in Antwerp where he had been awarded a pension for life. Mostaert's name first appeared in city records in 1498, the year he married and bought a house in his birthplace. He is also mentioned in Haarlem archives from 1527 to 1554. In 1500 Mostaert was commissioned to paint the shutters for a receptacle housing the relics of Saint Bavo
in the Groote Kerk
, Haarlem. From this date he began to be listed in the records of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke
, and continued to be frequently listed until 1549. He became deacon of the painters' guild in 1507, and again in 1543 and 1544.
According to the RKD he worked for the Regentess from 1503-1521, returned to Haarlem, and moved to Antwerp around 1552.
.
His earliest works are noticeably influenced by Geertgen tot Sint Jans
, an earlier Haarlem artist. Some believed that Mostaert was actually apprenticed to Geertgen but it is doubtful that the artist had any apprentices or workshop assistants during his career. From Geertgen, Mostaert adopted a refined style and thoughtful compositions for his works, as well as the stiff, angular look of his figures.
Between 1510 and 1516 Mostaert developed a delicate style where his doll-like figures inhabited bright, blue-skied landscapes, as for example in his "Adoration of the Magi" (c. 1510-15). His refined brushwork is precise, with an almost religious attention to detail. Also of note is the landscape, which demonstrates his leanings towards more romantic views with expansive hills. During the 1520s Mostaert was also influenced by Joachim Patinir
's take on landscapes. Mostaert's "St. Christopher", a painting with a landscape that features a river receding into an expansive and hilly background, was once even attributed to Patinir.
Mostaert's portrait work of this earlier period includes a piece entitled "Portrait of Abel van den Coulster" (c. 1500-10), in which an elegant, thin-faced man is situated in equally elegant surroundings. Mostaert was known for copying original portraits for some of his courtly commissions but, as is the case with the "Portrait of Abel", he also painted figures from life and added aristocratic touches. He was known for presenting his portrait sitters in three-quarter-length and placing their hands on cushions.
Being an accomplished court painter allowed for Mostaert to make a living off his art and to gain a steady patronage. The last documented reference to him is in 1549 when he petitioned the Haarlem town council for permission to live in Hoorn
so that he could complete an altarpiece there.
As was common practice in 15th and 16th century Netherlands, Mostaert frequently reproduced portraits of political figures based on original models. In 1521, Mostaert gave Margaret a portrait of her third husband, Duke Philibert of Savoy, as a New Year's present. The portrait was made sixteen years after Duke Philibert's death.
. The man wears rich clothes, gloves, and holds a sword, all indicative of his important status. The insignia on his hat and bag allude to possible Spanish or Portuguese origins. Although African kings were depicted in paintings of "The Adoration of the Magi", they were often stereotypical representations. "Portrait of an African Man" is significant because it is the only independently painted portrait of a black man in the Renaissance
period.
Mostaert also painted a diptych
for Margaret, the iconography of which may have been based on mystic literature of the Spanish court, with which Margaret had close connections.
. Having never travelled to the Americas, Mostaert had to imagine what the New World looked like. There was speculation that the artist may have seen sketches of the landscapes but this is unlikely since most pictorial documentation of the times was of exotic animals, tools or costumes, rather than panoramic views. Also, the fanciful cliffs seem to be influenced by Patinir's landscape style rather than authentic renderings. It is believed that Mostaert created the painting based on either written or oral accounts of the newly discovered area to which he would have been privy thanks to his contacts at the court of Margaret of Austria, the aunt of Charles V.
Although the narrative in the painting was thought to depict a number of different events, including Columbus
on the island of Goanin, Cortes in Mexico, and the Portuguese invasion of Brazil
, it is actually the story of Coronado
's search for the seven cities of gold in the Zuni village of Cibola
in New Mexico
and Arizona
in 1540-42.
The best evidence that the picture is based on Coronado's story can be found at the right side of the painting, by the base of the cliffs. On his travels, Coronado was stoned at the entrance to the village by the native Indians. He was rescued by two of his officers who came to his aid and warded off the incoming Indians. Mostaert may have added the event to the landscape to lend it a measure of credibility.
The landscape's terrain, as well as the look of the natives, also matches the descriptions of Pedro de Castaneda, a member of Coronado's team, made during on his travels. According to him, the land was full of cliffs, some with ladders on them reaching to different levels, the people were tall and naked, and their huts were built into the ground and made of straw, the roofs protruding from the ground.
Mostaert devotes only a small section of the painting to Coranado and his men, showing us instead the unity and strength of the native peoples fighting for their land. The painting is one of the earliest depictions of the Europeans' invasions of the Americas and of the "noble savage
."
. An abbreviated version can be seen in the top half of his "Adoration of the Magi". It can also be found in the broad courtyard in the background of his "Portrait of Abel van den Coulster".
since 1949, was found to have been confiscated by Nazi forces in 1941 from its rightful owners in Poland. It had come from a collection of artworks amassed by Izabela Działyńska née Czartoryska. The paintings were moved to Warsaw as war loomed but were inevitably seized by the Germans.
The VMFA made the decision to deaccession and transfer the work to the Polish Embassy, acting on behalf of the rightful owners' family. The family donated the painting to the Czartoryski Museum
in Krakow
, Poland.
The small, oil-on-panel portrait is known to have had at least three different titles: "Duke of Burgundy", "Portrait of Charles VIII", and "Portrait of a Courtier". It was once paired with a portrait of a lady, thought to be Anne of Brittany
, the wife of Charles VIII, King of France
.
in First Family as primitives working on their land. Mostaert was interested in combining pagan and Christian interpretations of humanity's origins. His son was a common painter and was not named by Karel van Mander, but his twin grandsons Frans
and Gillis
both became respected landscape painters.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Renaissance painter of portraits and religious subjects, though his most famous creation was the "West Indies Landscape".
Biography
According to Karel van Mander, Mostaert was born in HaarlemHaarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
and had been a pupil of Jacob van Haarlem, the painter that painted the altarpiece of the Carrier's guild there in the St. Bavochurch. He was handsome, eloquent and polite, and claimed to be descended from the Haarlem knights of the Crusade to Damietta. He worked eighteen years as portraitist for Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands. He died in Antwerp where he had been awarded a pension for life. Mostaert's name first appeared in city records in 1498, the year he married and bought a house in his birthplace. He is also mentioned in Haarlem archives from 1527 to 1554. In 1500 Mostaert was commissioned to paint the shutters for a receptacle housing the relics of Saint Bavo
Saint Bavo
Saint Bavo of Ghent is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint.-Life:Bavo was born near Liège, Belgium, to a Frankish noble family that gave him the name Allowin...
in the Groote Kerk
Sint-Bavokerk
The Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square in the Dutch city of Haarlem...
, Haarlem. From this date he began to be listed in the records of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke
Haarlem Guild of St. Luke
The Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke was first a Christian, and later a city Guild for a large number of trades falling under the patron saints Luke the Evangelist and Saint Eligius.-History:...
, and continued to be frequently listed until 1549. He became deacon of the painters' guild in 1507, and again in 1543 and 1544.
According to the RKD he worked for the Regentess from 1503-1521, returned to Haarlem, and moved to Antwerp around 1552.
Works
Mostaert's teacher Jacob van Haarlem may have actually been the anonymous "Master of the Brunswick Diptych". Karel van Mander described several works in detail, including his strange landscape of the West Indies, which he considered to be an unfinished work. Much of Mostaert's work was destroyed in the great fire of Haarlem in 1576, and some paintings once attributed to him are now attributed to Adriaen IsenbrantAdriaen Isenbrant
Adriaen Isenbrandt or Adrien, Isenbrant, Ysenbrant, Ysenbrandt or Hysebrant , was a Flemish Northern Renaissance painter, who from documentary evidence was clearly a significant artist of his period, but to whom no specific works can be clearly documented...
.
His earliest works are noticeably influenced by Geertgen tot Sint Jans
Geertgen tot Sint Jans
Geertgen tot Sint Jans , also known as Geertgen van Haarlem, Gerrit van Haarlem, Gerrit Gerritsz, Gheertgen, Geerrit, Gheerrit, or any other diminutive form of Gerald, was an Early Netherlandish painter from the northern Low Countries in the Holy Roman Empire...
, an earlier Haarlem artist. Some believed that Mostaert was actually apprenticed to Geertgen but it is doubtful that the artist had any apprentices or workshop assistants during his career. From Geertgen, Mostaert adopted a refined style and thoughtful compositions for his works, as well as the stiff, angular look of his figures.
Between 1510 and 1516 Mostaert developed a delicate style where his doll-like figures inhabited bright, blue-skied landscapes, as for example in his "Adoration of the Magi" (c. 1510-15). His refined brushwork is precise, with an almost religious attention to detail. Also of note is the landscape, which demonstrates his leanings towards more romantic views with expansive hills. During the 1520s Mostaert was also influenced by Joachim Patinir
Joachim Patinir
Joachim Patinir, also called de Patiner , was a Flemish Northern Renaissance history and landscape painter from the area of modern Wallonia...
's take on landscapes. Mostaert's "St. Christopher", a painting with a landscape that features a river receding into an expansive and hilly background, was once even attributed to Patinir.
Mostaert's portrait work of this earlier period includes a piece entitled "Portrait of Abel van den Coulster" (c. 1500-10), in which an elegant, thin-faced man is situated in equally elegant surroundings. Mostaert was known for copying original portraits for some of his courtly commissions but, as is the case with the "Portrait of Abel", he also painted figures from life and added aristocratic touches. He was known for presenting his portrait sitters in three-quarter-length and placing their hands on cushions.
Being an accomplished court painter allowed for Mostaert to make a living off his art and to gain a steady patronage. The last documented reference to him is in 1549 when he petitioned the Haarlem town council for permission to live in Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...
so that he could complete an altarpiece there.
Margaret of Austria
In 1518, Margaret named Mostaert "peintre d'honneur." Under her employ, he was commissioned to create portraits, though he also produced a number of devotional images as well as portraits for the lesser Dutch nobility.As was common practice in 15th and 16th century Netherlands, Mostaert frequently reproduced portraits of political figures based on original models. In 1521, Mostaert gave Margaret a portrait of her third husband, Duke Philibert of Savoy, as a New Year's present. The portrait was made sixteen years after Duke Philibert's death.
Portrait of an African Man
Mostaert accompanied Margaret on many of her travels and painted many portraits of her courtiers, coming into contact with upper class and public figures. One such figure is presented in "Portrait of an African Man" (c. 1520-30). It is not known exactly who this man was but there are indications that he was either associated with Margaret's court or was an attendant of her nephew, Charles VCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
. The man wears rich clothes, gloves, and holds a sword, all indicative of his important status. The insignia on his hat and bag allude to possible Spanish or Portuguese origins. Although African kings were depicted in paintings of "The Adoration of the Magi", they were often stereotypical representations. "Portrait of an African Man" is significant because it is the only independently painted portrait of a black man in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
period.
Mostaert also painted a diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
for Margaret, the iconography of which may have been based on mystic literature of the Spanish court, with which Margaret had close connections.
West Indies Landscape
Mostaert's most famous work is the "West Indies Landscape" (c. 1545), which is believed to be a view of the Zuni pueblos in New MexicoNew Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. Having never travelled to the Americas, Mostaert had to imagine what the New World looked like. There was speculation that the artist may have seen sketches of the landscapes but this is unlikely since most pictorial documentation of the times was of exotic animals, tools or costumes, rather than panoramic views. Also, the fanciful cliffs seem to be influenced by Patinir's landscape style rather than authentic renderings. It is believed that Mostaert created the painting based on either written or oral accounts of the newly discovered area to which he would have been privy thanks to his contacts at the court of Margaret of Austria, the aunt of Charles V.
Although the narrative in the painting was thought to depict a number of different events, including Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
on the island of Goanin, Cortes in Mexico, and the Portuguese invasion of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, it is actually the story of Coronado
Coronado
Coronado may refer to:* Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, a Spanish explorer* Rodney Coronado, a US activist* Coronado, California* Coronado, Chihuahua* Coronado, Kansas* Coronado * Coronado Yachts* Coronado 15...
's search for the seven cities of gold in the Zuni village of Cibola
Cibola
Cibola commonly refers to one of the legendary Seven Cities of Gold.It may also refer to:* Cibola, Arizona* Cibola County, New Mexico* Cibola National Forest, in New Mexico and Oklahoma...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in 1540-42.
The best evidence that the picture is based on Coronado's story can be found at the right side of the painting, by the base of the cliffs. On his travels, Coronado was stoned at the entrance to the village by the native Indians. He was rescued by two of his officers who came to his aid and warded off the incoming Indians. Mostaert may have added the event to the landscape to lend it a measure of credibility.
The landscape's terrain, as well as the look of the natives, also matches the descriptions of Pedro de Castaneda, a member of Coronado's team, made during on his travels. According to him, the land was full of cliffs, some with ladders on them reaching to different levels, the people were tall and naked, and their huts were built into the ground and made of straw, the roofs protruding from the ground.
Mostaert devotes only a small section of the painting to Coranado and his men, showing us instead the unity and strength of the native peoples fighting for their land. The painting is one of the earliest depictions of the Europeans' invasions of the Americas and of the "noble savage
Noble savage
The term noble savage , expresses the concept an idealized indigene, outsider , and refers to the literary stock character of the same...
."
Themes
One of Mostaert's favorite themes was the Vision of Augustus and the Tiburtine SibylTiburtine Sibyl
The Tiburtine Sibyl was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur .The mythic meeting of Cæsar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was a favored motif of Christian artists. Whether the sibyl in question was the Etruscan Sibyl...
. An abbreviated version can be seen in the top half of his "Adoration of the Magi". It can also be found in the broad courtyard in the background of his "Portrait of Abel van den Coulster".
Recent Controversy
Mostaert's "Portrait of a Courtier", a painting that until 2005 had been in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine ArtsVirginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, which opened in 1936.The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, while private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all...
since 1949, was found to have been confiscated by Nazi forces in 1941 from its rightful owners in Poland. It had come from a collection of artworks amassed by Izabela Działyńska née Czartoryska. The paintings were moved to Warsaw as war loomed but were inevitably seized by the Germans.
The VMFA made the decision to deaccession and transfer the work to the Polish Embassy, acting on behalf of the rightful owners' family. The family donated the painting to the Czartoryski Museum
Czartoryski Museum
The Czartoryski Museum and Library is a museum located in Kraków, Poland, founded in Puławy in 1796 by Princess Izabela Czartoryska. The Puławy collections were partly destroyed after the November uprising of 1830–1831 and the subsequent confiscation of the Czartoryskis' property by the Russians...
in Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Poland.
The small, oil-on-panel portrait is known to have had at least three different titles: "Duke of Burgundy", "Portrait of Charles VIII", and "Portrait of a Courtier". It was once paired with a portrait of a lady, thought to be Anne of Brittany
Anne of Brittany
Anne, Duchess of Brittany , also known as Anna of Brittany , was a Breton ruler, who was to become queen to two successive French kings. She was born in Nantes, Brittany, and was the daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Eleanor of...
, the wife of Charles VIII, King of France
Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
.
Legacy
Although a renaissance painter of portraits and devotional imagery, Mostaert also had a fascination with primitive peoples and lands, as seen in his West Indies Landscape. At around 1520-25 he presented the family life of Adam and EveAdam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
in First Family as primitives working on their land. Mostaert was interested in combining pagan and Christian interpretations of humanity's origins. His son was a common painter and was not named by Karel van Mander, but his twin grandsons Frans
Frans Mostaert
-Biography:According to Karel van Mander he was the son of a common painter, the twin brother of the painter Gillis Mostaert and the grandson of the painter Jan Mostaert. Gillis looked so much like him that their own father couldn't tell them apart. Both brothers joined the Antwerp Guild of St....
and Gillis
Gillis Mostaert
Gillis Mostaert was a Southern Netherlandish painter.-Biography:According to Karel van Mander, Mostaert's father was from Hulst, near Antwerp. According to the RKD, he was a painter, but he sent his sons to his own father Jan Mostaert in Haarlem...
both became respected landscape painters.
External links
- Grove Art Dictionary
- Artnet
- Article on VMFA
- Codart
- Jan Mostaert on ArtnetArtnetartnet is an online service provider for the international art market with headquarters in New York, Berlin and Paris. Additionally, artnet has regional offices in China, the UK and Russia.- Business model :...