Jan Albertsz. Rotius (20 October 1624 – 1 November 1666 (buried)) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

painter known for his individual and group portraits, breakfast still lifes, kitchen still lifes and fruit still lifes. He was active in Hoorn and was the father of the flower painter Jacob Rotius.Jan Aelbertsz. Rotius
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History 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 ...

Life

Rotius was born in

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

where he was baptised on 20 October 1624. His baptismal name was 'Albert Jansz. Rootgies', but he later Latinized his name to ''Rotius'', which was garbled by the early Dutch biographer

Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadtwisting'' (Twyndraat) fr ...

into ''Roodseus'', possibly because in his marriage document he is listed as ''Rootseijus''. Houbraken stated that Rotius was a pupil of

Pieter Lastman Pieter Lastman (1583–1633) was a Dutch language, Dutch painter. Lastman is considered important because of his work as a painter of history pieces and because his pupils included Rembrandt and Jan Lievens. In his paintings Lastman paid carefu ...

, who died in 1633. If he was born in 1624, then he was only 9 years old when Lastman died. Such an apprenticeship therefore seems unlikely. In 1643 he became a member of the Alkmaar

Guild of St. Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...

, which may point to an initial training in that city. He moved to Hoorn in where, according to the local archives, Rotius married Maartje Ambrosiusdr in 1643. Of their seven children only three would live to adulthood, including the still-life painter Jacob Rotius who was born in Hoorn in 1644. Houbraken claimed that Jacob was a pupil of

Jan Davidsz. de Heem Jan Davidsz. de Heem or in-full ''Jan Davidszoon de Heem'', also called ''Johannes de Heem'' or ''Johannes van Antwerpen'' or ''Jan Davidsz de Hem'' (c. 17 April 1606 in Utrecht – before 26 April 1684 in Antwerp), was a still life painter wh ...

and was quite successful as a flower painter,Christies lot: ''Grapes, Corn, Flowers'' by Jacob Rootius
/ref> but died of "melancholy" at the age of 50. In his testament dated 16 October 1666, Rotius left all of his prints and drawings to his son ''Jacob Rotius'' or ''Rootius'' (1644–1682). He died in

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...

a few days later, aged 42, and was buried in the Grote Kerk in Hoorn.

Civic guard portraits

Jan Aelbertsz Rotius - schutterstuk Hoorn 1649

Rotius's schutterstukken were painted quite soon after similar paintings in Amsterdam were completed by

Bartholomeus van der Helst Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613 – buried 16 December 1670) was a Dutch painter. Considered to be one of the leading portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age, his elegant portraits gained him the patronage of Amsterdam's elite as well as t ...

and Govert Flink. Comparative study shows he was influenced by these paintings, and perhaps was encouraged to achieve similar effects by his patrons.

References

External links

*
Portraits in the Westfries museum, Hoorn
(Type "Rotius".)
Rotius in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotius, Jan Albertsz 1624 births 1666 deaths People from Medemblik People from Hoorn Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Painters from Alkmaar

Life

Civic guard portraits

References

Further reading

External links