Jan Janssens

Jan Janssens (also Johannes Janssens and Joannes Janssens) (August 1590, Ghent – after 1650) was a Flemish Baroque painter and draftsman who is considered to be the most important of the so-called Ghent Caravaggisti. His altarpieces and other compositions offering very realistic representations of religious motifs adorn many churches in and around Ghent.

There is no information available about Jan Janssens’ training. He was in Rome in the period 1619-1620. Janssens returned to Ghent in 1621 and was admitted to the Ghent Guild of St. Luke as a master. From 1634-1635 and in 1646 Janssens was dean of the Ghent Guild of St. Luke.

On 29 August 1623, he married Petronilla de Rop with whom he had 6 children.

Jan Janssens died in Ghent around 1650. His house, De Pijl (The Arrow), is sold.

Jan Janssens known work is fairly limited. During his stay in Italy Janssens came into contact with Dutch painters like Dirck van Baburen, Gerard van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Brugghen. These Dutch artists were followers of the style of Caravaggio and are known as the Dutch or Utrecht Caravaggisti, after their main centre in Utrecht, where there was still a sizeable and prosperous Catholic population. Their work influenced him stylistically. He was also influenced by the work of Bartolomeo Manfredi. Janssens took the Caravaggio style back with him to Ghent and he is considered to be one of the Ghent Caravaggisti along with Antoon van den Heuvel and Melchior de la Mars. He worked principally on commissions for altarpieces.

His chief subject matter are biblical and, to a lesser extent, mythological themes painted in a large format. His favourite themes are Christ crowned with thorns and the mocking of Christ. He also returned various times to the theme of the Caritas Romana, even making one version (1620-1625, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando) based very closely on a work by Dirck van Baburen on the same theme.

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