Jacob Isaacsz Swanenburg

Jacob Isaacsz. van Swanenburg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjaːkɔp fɑn ˈsʋaːnə(m)bɵrx]; 1571, Leiden – 1638, Utrecht) was a Dutch painter, draftsman and art dealer. He was known for his city views, history paintings, Christian religious scenes and portraits. He spent a substantial part of his early career in Italy before returning to his native Leiden. He was the teacher of the young Rembrandt.

Jacob Isaacsz. van Swanenburg was born in Leiden as the son of Isaac Claesz. van Swanenburg. His father was a painter and designer of prints, stained glass windows and other objects and also served multiple times as Leiden's mayor. His father had been a pupil of the leading Flemish history Frans Floris in Antwerp and received major civil and religious commissions in Leiden where he was the leading history painter of his time. Jacob had two younger brothers who also became artists: Claes (1572-1652) was a painter while Willem (1580-1612) was a printmaker. The van Swanenburg family was largely of the Arminian faith and after 1618-1619, Remonstrant.

Van Swanenburg left Holland for Italy but information about his sojourn is scarce. The artist was in Venice around 1591. In Italy he also spent time in Rome as is demonstrated by his View of St. Peter's Square in Rome. He had settled in Naples around 1598. He married on 28 November 1599 Margaretha De Cardone, the daughter of a local grocer. He sold his paintings directly from his workshop in Naples. In 1608 he ran foul of the Neapolitan Inquisition for displaying paintings depicting scenes of witchcraft in his shop. The accusation related to a large canvas depicting a number of witches and devils engaging in perverse acts, which he had displayed outside his shop. During the proceedings van Swanenburg explained that he had only taken out the picture which he had begun three years earlier for cleaning and varnishing. He declared to have studied the art of painting in Venice without a master. He was able to convince the inquisitor of his good character and got off with a severe reprimand. Had the inquisitor known that van Swanenburg was a non-Catholic the punishment would likely have been more severe.

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