Jan Six (2 February 1857,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

- 8 December 1926, Amsterdam) was a Dutch

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

Biography

He was a member of the noble

Six family Six is a well-known Dutch family from Amsterdam. The family originally came from the region of Lille in the north of France. History The name Six is an abbreviation of Sixtus, a name given to the sixth child of a family. The first known member ...

, which originated in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. His father, Jan Pieter Six (1824-1899), Lord of

Hillegom Hillegom () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Hillegom is part of an area called the Duin- en Bollenstreek ("Dune and Bulb Region"). As such, a large portion of the local economy was tradition ...

and Wimmenum, was a local administrator and

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

. His mother, Catharina née Teding van Berkhout (1834-1887), was also from a noble family. From 1875 to 1883, he studied classical literature at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. He was also enrolled at the

Rijksakademie The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school support ...

, and took courses in classical archaeology from

Reinhard Kekulé von Stradonitz Reinhard Kekulé von Stradonitz (name at birth Kekulé, called Kekulé von Stradonitz only after 1889; 6 March 1839 – 23 March 1911) was a German archeologist. He has been called the founder of modern iconology (Langlotz). He served as director ...

, at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

. In 1885, he obtained his PhD (

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

) for his thesis ''The

Gorgon A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...

'', which was sponsored by the art historian,

Allard Pierson Allard Pierson (8 April 1831 – 27 May 1896) was a Dutch theologian, historian, and art historian. He was a leading proponent of radical criticism in the Netherlands. Life Pierson's father was a merchant in Amsterdam, his mother an author of piet ...

, and published by R. Kröber-Bakels of

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages ...

. In 1889, after several visits to Rome, he became a private tutor at the University. He was named a Professor of general art history at the Rijksakademie in 1890. That same year, he married Hieronijma Maria Antonia Fortuna Bosch Reitz (1867-1951); sister of the painter Gijs Bosch Reitz. They had six children, including the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

resistance fighter, . In 1896, he received a special appointment as Professor of

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

and art history at the University; succeeding his former mentor, Pierson. He was elected a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1906, an organization of which his father and grandfather were also members. Two years later, during a visit by Kaiser

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

, he was named a Knight (2nd Class) in the

Order of the Crown of Prussia The Royal Order of the Crown (german: Königlicher Kronen-Orden) was a Prussian order of chivalry. Instituted in 1861 as an honour equal in rank to the Order of the Red Eagle, membership could only be conferred upon commissioned officers (or civ ...

. He also became a Knight in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

, and a Commander in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

. He was appointed

Rector Magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...

at the University in 1919. Four years before his death, he established the Six Foundation, to sort and maintain his large collection of books and antique objects; including a portrait of his ancestor, the Mayor of Amsterdam, also named

Jan Six Jan Six (14 January 1618, Amsterdam – 28 May 1700, Amsterdam) was an important cultural figure in the Dutch Golden Age. Biography From a well-to-do cloth merchant family Six, Jan Six was the son of Jean Six (1575–1617) and his wife Anna Wijm ...

, painted by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

. Six's technique, a method for painting Greek

Black-figure pottery Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic ( grc, , }), is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are ...

, that he first described, was named in his honor. In 1932, his collection was acquired by the Allard Pierson Foundation, created by Pierson's son . It was added to Pierson's collection to form the basis of the

Allard Pierson Museum The Allard Pierson Museum is the archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam. It is situated at the Oude Turfmarkt 127 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Artifacts from the ancient civilizations of ancient Egypt, the Near East, the Greek ...

Sources

"Six, jhr. Jan (1857-1926)"
by Emilie Haspels, in: ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland'', Part I, 1979
Biography and references
by Monique Daniels @ the

Dictionary of Art Historians The ''Dictionary of Art Historians'' (DAH) is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to art historians, art critics and their dictionaries. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on published art ...

* Lothar Wickert: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 1879 bis 1929'', Von Zabern, Mainz 1979, pp.86, 90, 197

External links

Entry on Jan Six
@ the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen {{DEFAULTSORT:Six, Jan 1857 births 1926 deaths Dutch art historians 20th-century Dutch historians Recipients of the Order of Orange-Nassau Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion People from Amsterdam 19th-century Dutch historians