Jan van Kessel was a Dutch Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age

The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...

 draftsman and landscape painter who made many cityscapes of Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

. His work is often confused with the works of contemporary painters with the same name.

Biography

According to Houbraken he was born in Amsterdam in 1648 and made clever farm scenes that he first drew from life before making his oil paintings. Houbraken went on to mention that he was best known for his winter scenes and died in 1698. Houbraken couldn't discover whether he was related to the Jan van Kessel of Antwerp

Jan van Kessel, senior

Jan van Kessel was a Flemish painter of still lifes, who was the father of another painter with the same name Jan van Kessel, and Jan Brueghel the Elder's grandson....

, who was mentioned in Cornelis de Bie

Cornelis de Bie

Cornelis de Bie was a Brabant rederijker, poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier.He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies...

's book Het Gulden Cabinet

Het Gulden Cabinet

The Golden Cabinet of the Noble Free Art of Painting, or Het Gulden Cabinet vande Edel Vry Schilder-Const, as it was originally known in Dutch, is a series of artist biographies and panegyrics with engraved portraits written by the 17th century notary and rederijker Cornelis de Bie...

.

According to the RKD he was the son of the framemaker Thomas Jacobsz van Kessel, and the pupil of the landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael in Amsterdam. He is known for cityscapes, beach scenes, winter landscapes and architectural works.