Jan de Herdt, in Italy also called Il fiammingoVariations of name: Jan Daniel de Herdt, Jan de Herde, Jan de Hert, Giovanni de Hert, Giovanni Darto, Giovanni Darto Fiamingo, Joannes de Hart, de HerdeMiroslav Kindl, ''Jan de Herdt, Nizozemí, Itálie, střední Evropa'', diploma work for Palacký University in Olomouc, Department of History of Art, promoter: Dr. Ladislav Daniel (Antwerp, c. 1620 – between 1686 and 1690) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. After training in Antwerp, he spent his entire career abroad, first in Northern Italy and later in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and other cities in central Europe. He was mainly a portrait artist but also painted

genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

as well as religious, mythological and allegorical subjects.Jan de Herdt
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 ...

He was part of a network of Flemish and Dutch painters working for the court, aristocracy and ecclesiastical institutions of central Europe.Miroslav Kindl, ''Netherlandish Artists in the Service of Bishop Karl von Lichtenstein-Castelcorno''
in: Ondřej Jakubec (ed.), Karl von Lichtenstein- Castelcorno (1624–1695) Bishop of Olomouc and Central European Prince, Olomouc 2019, pp. 265–282Miroslav Kindl, ''Portrait of Jan de Herdt in Central Europe''
2012

Life

Details about the life of Jan de Herdt are sketchy. He is believed to have been born in Antwerp around 1620. It is not clear who was his master. He is not recorded with any of the contemporary painters as a pupil. It is therefore possible that he studied with Rubens or Jordaens, two artists who as court artists were exempted from the requirement to register their pupils with the Antwerp

Guild of Saint 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 Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...

. There exists no documentary evidence for such apprenticeship. It is also possible that he was trained outside of Antwerp. He was admitted as a master in the Antwerp

in the guild year 1646–47. On 18 October 1648 he joined the 'Sodaliteit van de Bejaerde Jongmans' (Sodality of the Unmarried Men of Age), a fraternity for bachelors established by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

order.Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, ''De liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpsche sint Lucasgilde''
Volume 2, Antwerp, 1864, pp. 176, 182 He left Flanders and was subsequently recorded in Northern Italy, where he was documented in

Lovere Lovere (Bergamasque: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, northern Italy, at the northwest end of Lake Iseo. The houses in the city have overhanging wooden roofs, typical of Switzerland, combined with the heavy s ...

in 1657 as working on an altarpiece for the local church of St George. The large painting depicting ''Moses striking the rock'' is still in situ.''Chiesa di S. Giorgio, Jan De Herdt, Mosè fa scaturire l'acqua dalla roccia, 1657''
in: La Voce di Lovere, February 2016 He was recorded in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

in 1658 where he painted the ''Abraham and Abimelech'' for the Santa Maria Maggiore Church, which is still in situ. He is documented in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

in 1660–1661. In this location he resided long enough to train the painter

Angelo Everardi Angelo Everardi (5 August 1647 – 1678)Maria Adelaide Baroncelli, ''Jan de Herdt e le origini del Fiammenghino'', Saggi e Memorie di storia dell'arte Saggi e Memorie di storia dell'arte Vol. 4 (1965), pp. 7, 9-24, 133-141 (26 pages) was a paint ...

, who was likely of Flemish descent and was known as il Fiammenghino. Although there is no documentary evidence for this, it is likely that he was also active in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

for a while. The artistic direction of the Ducal Court in Mantua had been for decades in the hands of Flemish artists, first

Daniel van den Dyck Daniel van den Dyck, known in Italy as Daniel VandichDaniël van Dyck
at the

and later

Frans Geffels Frans Geffels, known in Italy as Francesco Geffels (25 August 1624 – 18 February 1694) was a Flemish painter, printmaker, architect, stage designer and designer of ephemeral structures for solemn and festive occasions.Miroslav Kindl, ''Die nied ...

. Geffels was also from Antwerp and had become a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke a year earlier than de Herdt. He had then left to work in Italy while also working for periods in, and maintaining links, with Vienna, where both artists are believed to have arrived in the early 1660s. It is likely that the artists knew each other as they both contributed to a collaborative book published in Vienna, the ''Historia di Leopoldo Cesare''.Miroslav Kindl, ''The De Herdt (De Harde) family in the service of Emperor Leopold in Vienna''
in: K. Brosens, L. Kelchtermans, K. Van der Stighelen (eds.), 'Family Ties. Art Production and Kinship Patterns in the Early Modern Low Countries', 2012, pp. 119-128 Jan de Herdt followed in the footsteps of many of his compatriots of the previous generation who sought a career in Central Europe. The Southern Netherlands had developed a close bond with the Imperial court in Vienna as its Spanish rulers were connected with it through dynastic links. The governors of the Southern Netherlands were often members of the Austrian Imperial family. They occasionally took artists from Flanders back with them when they returned to Vienna after being called back from their post. This was the case with

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts. He held a number of military commands, with limited success, and ...

, who brought artists such as

Jan Anton van der Baren Jan Anton van der Baren (1615 – 30 or 31 December 1686) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter, draughtsman, priest and museum curator active in Brussels and Vienna. He specialised in still lifes of flowers and vegetables, some of which in ...

Franciscus van der Steen Franciscus van der Steen (Antwerp, c. 1625 – Vienna, 1672) was a Flemish painter and engraver who was active in Vienna. He is now mainly known for his reproductive prints after master paintings and various publications containing portraits of p ...

and Nikolaus van Hoy back with him to Vienna.Barbara Dossi. "Baren, Jan Anthonie van der." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 7 April 2020Guido Messling, ''Point of View #14''
at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Jan de Herdt - Mortally wounded Clorinda baptized by Tancred

Jan de Herdt - Mortally wounded Clorinda baptized by Tancred

Jan de Herdt's brother had preceded him as he was working in Vienna as a goldsmith to the court and may have been instrumental in introducing Jan to the court in Vienna. While he is believed to have arrived in Vienna around 1660, Jan is first documented in Vienna on 8 January 1662. On that date he signed his name in the ecclesiastical registers of the Schottenkirche (Scottish church) in Vienna as he together with the Flemish engraver

acted as a witnesses at the wedding of the Dutch artist

Hans de Jode Hans de Jode or Jan de Jode (The Hague, 1630 – Vienna, after 1662) was a Dutch Republic, Dutch painter known for his Sea, marine paintings, harbour scenes and Italianate landscapes. He left his native Holland at an early age and worked in Ven ...

. Jan de Herdt later collaborated with van der Steen on a series of aristocratic portraits for the publication ''Historia di Lepoldo Cesare''. Frans Geffels also contributed to this publication.Miroslav Kindl, ''Die niederländischen Künstler der zweiten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts in Diensten der Fürsten von Liechtenstein in Feldsberg (Valtice)''
in: Liechtensteinisch-Tschechische Historikerkommission (Hrsg.), 'Die Liechtenstein und die Kunst' Band 3, Vaduz, HWFL, 2014, pp. 172-173 In Vienna, de Herdt painted portraits of courtiers as well as history paintings for their chateaux and palaces. He appears in the business records of Forchondt, a family business of art dealers from Antwerp who served clients throughout Europe and had a branch in Vienna. The son of the founder of the family business trained as a goldsmith with Jan's brother in Vienna. The records of the Forchondt firm show that in 1671 Prince Schwarzenberg bought a painting on the subject of ''Armida and Rinaldo'', which was likely the ''Rinaldo preventing Armida's suicide'' by de Herdt (now in the former Augustinian monastery in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Jan de Herdt - Portrait of unknown noblewoman

Jan may have been active in Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou (now in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

) from the beginning of 1666 to January 1667. From 1666 to 1668 de Herdt worked in Brno. He is recorded in Prague in 1680 where he had accompanied the court when it fled Vienna due to an outbreak of the plague. He was in

Třebíč Třebíč (; german: Trebitsch; yi, טרייביטש Treybitsh) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. The beginnings of the town's history are connected with the establishment of a Benedictine ...

from 1880 to 1881 and, in this last year, also in

Znojmo Znojmo (; german: Znaim) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian R ...

. In 1684 he executed two works for patrons in Prague but these were possibly created elsewhere. The last report of his presence in Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou dates back to 1686. After 1686 there is no more news of the artist. The exact time and place of his death are not known. There are no records about him after 1686. It is believed he died sometime between 1686 and 1690 in Central Europe.

Work

Jan de Herdt was a versatile painter who painted portraits, stories from the bible, history paintings and genre scenes. He signed the vast majority of his works with the most widespread variant of his name J. D. Herdt. The most apparent influences on his work are Antwerp's leading painters Anthony van Dyck, Rubens, Jordaens and

Caspar de Crayer Gaspar de Crayer or Jasper de CrayerName variations: Caspar de Crayer and Gaspard de Crayer (18 November 1584 – 27 January 1669) was a Flemish painter known for his many Counter-Reformation altarpieces and portraits. He was a court painter ...

. The style of de Herdt's portraits shows the influence of the van Dyckian portrait model. This influence is also recognisable in his series of paintings recounting stories from Torquato Tasso's 'Gerusalemme Liberata' such as the ''Erminia and the shepherds''.Maria Adelaide Baroncelli, ''Jan de Herdt e le origini del Fiammenghino'', Saggi e Memorie di storia dell'arte Saggi e Memorie di storia dell'arte Vol. 4 (1965), pp. 7, 9-24, 133-141 (26 pages) Jan de Herdt - Erminia bij de landlieden - GG 2921 - Kunsthistorisches Museum

Jan de Herdt - Erminia bij de landlieden - GG 2921 - Kunsthistorisches Museum

Jan de Herdt also was aware of trends in Central European painting. This is shown in his ''Portrait of the family of Imperial Goldsmith Franz Wilhelm de Harde von Antorff'' (

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...

). De Herdt's family portrait likely includes a self-portrait in the young man on the left who holds a watch in his left hand and points with his right hand to the floor. Alternatively, this may be a portrait of his nephew. Given the similarities between the two works, de Herdt's family portrait may indicate that he had seen the ''Family of precious stone cutter Dionysius Miseroni'' (

National Gallery Prague The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Cze ...

) painted by the Czech portrait painter

Karel Škréta Karel Škréta Šotnovský ze Závořic (1610 – 1674) was a Czech portrait painter who worked in the Baroque style. He lived through the Thirty Years' War which caused him some hardships as a Protestant which led him to leave Prague for Saxony ...

in 1653. This was one of the first group portraits of this kind in Central Europe. In 1669

Tobias Pock Tobias Pock (or Poch, Bock or Pockh) (1609 - 12 June 1683) was an Austrian Baroque painter from Swabian descent, a pioneer of sacral art. Pock was born in Konstanz, where his father worked as a master at the Cathedral. Tobias Pock probably was an ...

painted a ''Self-Portrait with the artist's family'' in which he depicted himself in a manner that is almost identical to the one used by Jan de Herdt in his family portrait. Pock may have known de Herdt's family portrait. Jan de Herdt along with the above-mentioned artists created an entirely new visual language in Central Europe through this type of communicative group portrait. Jan de Herdt - Portrait of Franz Augustin of Waldstein

Jan de Herdt - Portrait of Franz Augustin of Waldstein

Jan de Herdt collaborated on the publication ''Historia di Leopoldo Cesare'' written by Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato and published in Vienna by the Flemish publisher from Antwerp

Johann Baptist Hacque Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

. The first and second volumes of the book were published in 1670 and a third one in 1674. The first volume described the political and military successes of Emperor Leopold I between 1656 and 1670. It was mainly illustrated with prints made by Flemish and Dutch printmakers after designs by other Netherlandish artists as well as artists from Germany and Italy. The illustrations mainly depict portraits of European monarchs and important aristocrats, castle scenes, battle scenes, maps and ceremonies. Apart from Jan de Herdt, the Dutch and Flemish artists who contributed to the work were

Cornelis Meyssens Cornelis Meyssens or Cornelis Meijssens (Antwerp, before 1638/39 – Vienna (?)) was a Flemish engraver and printmaker, known for his reproductive prints after famous painters and portraits. He trained in his native Antwerp and later moved to Vi ...

Gerard Bouttats Gerard Bouttats or Gerhardt Bouttats (Antwerp, circa 1630 – probably Vienna after 1668) was a Flemish people, Flemish, draughtsman engraver and printmaker, known for his prints of portraits, allegories, and devotional works.

Adriaen van Bloemen Adriaen van Bloemen or Adriaen Bloem (baptized on 27 February 1639 – c. 1697) was a Flemish painter, print designer, draughtsman and engraver. He was mainly a portrait artist who created individual and group portraits. He left his native Antw ...

, Sebastian van Dryweghen and

Jacob Toorenvliet Jacob Toorenvliet (1640–1719) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works. Biography Toorenvliet was born in Leiden, to Abraham Toorenvliet (1620–1692), a glass painter and drawing instructor. The younger Toorenvliet first studied art wit ...

. German artists Moritz Lang, Johann Martin Lerch and Johann Holst and Italians Il Bianchi, Marco Boschini and Leonardus Hen.t Venetiis also contributed.Miroslav Kindl, ''Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato (1606 Vicenza – 1678 Vicenza), Historia di Leopoldo Cesare I–III, 1670–1674''
at Muzeum Umění Olomouc Jan de Herdt contributed at least six designs for portraits: Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, Duke Ferdinand Dietrichstein, Count Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches, Count Raimund Montecuccoli, Count Jan Rottal and Count Nicholas Zrinsky. The prints designed by de Herdt in this publication have been used as the basis for attributing paintings to de Herdt. For instance, the ''Portrait of the Polish nobleman and commander Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski'' (

Royal Castle, Warsaw The Royal Castle in Warsaw ( pl, Zamek Królewski w Warszawie) is a state museum and a national historical monument, which formerly served as the official royal residence of several Polish monarchs. The personal offices of the king and the adm ...

) was attributed in this manner. De Herdt is also the author of a series of portraits of members of the

Waldstein family The House of Waldstein or House of Valdštejn is a Bohemian noble family that originated from the Kingdom of Bohemia as a branch of the Markwartinger family (House of Markvartic) and gained prominence during the reign of the Přemyslid dynasty. ...

. The works de Herdt created in Italy are all found in Lombardy. In 1920 the artist's signature was discovered on the altarpiece of the high altar of the Church of Saint Maurice in Breno in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The altarpiece depicts ''Saint Maurice kneeling before the Virgin and Child.'' There was a ''Portrait of St. Elizabeth'' (now lost) in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Brescia. There is an altarpiece depicting the ''Virgin in the clouds with Saints Anthony of Padua and Valentine'', signed J. De Herdt F. in situ at the Church of San Giovanni Decollato in

Desenzano del Garda Desenzano del Garda ( lmo, label=Brescian, Dezensà) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. It borders the communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul Gard ...

.Herdt (o Hertz) (de) Jan
in: Enciclopedia Bresciana Another painting by de Herdt in Lombardy is an altarpiece of ''Moses striking the rock'' preserved in the Church of Saint Georges in

. This work is remarkable for its large size (785 cm high and 500 cm wide) and the movement of the large crowd depicted in it.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Herdt, Jan 1620 births 1686 deaths Painters from Antwerp Flemish Baroque painters Flemish portrait painters Flemish genre painters Flemish history painters Artists from Antwerp