Johannes (Jan) Symonsz van der Beeck (1589 – buried 17 February 1644) was a Dutch painter also known by his alias Johannes Torrentius. ("Torrentius" is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

equivalent of the surname van der Beeck, meaning "of the brook" or "of the river".) Despite his reputation as a still life master, few of Torrentius' paintings survive, as his works were ordered to be burned after he was accused of being a

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

adherent of

atheistic Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

and Satanic beliefs. The tortured painter was thrown into prison as a convicted blasphemer until being permitted to leave the country as a political gesture for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, an admirer of van der Beeck.

Life and career

Johannes van der Beeck was born and died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, where he married in 1612. Relations between himself and wife Neeltgen van Camp eventually soured and ended in a divorce. Beeck was briefly thrown into jail for failing to pay his former wife her

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial sup ...

in 1621."Johannes Torrentius" (1993). In Ger Luijten, Ariane van Suchtelen, Michael Hoyle (Eds.), ''Dawn of the Golden Age: Northern Netherlandish Art, 1580–1620''. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p. 319. , . His libertine ways and purported membership in the

order led to his 1627 arrest and torture as a religious non-conformist and an alleged blasphemer, heretic, atheist, and Satanist. The 25 January 1628 judgment from five noted advocates of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

pronounced him guilty of "blasphemy against God and avowed atheism, at the same time as leading a frightful and pernicious lifestyle".Wittemans, Frank (1996). ''A New and Authentic History of the Rosicrucians''. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing. pp. 54–55. . It was widely believed that the condemned Torrentius' influence had affected Jeronimus Cornelisz, a trader of the

Dutch East India Trading Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock co ...

who led a bloody mutiny aboard the ''

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

'', a 1628 ship of the Dutch East India Company in 1629. According to the

RKD 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 ...

, Torrentius was tried in 1627, but according to Houbraken, who quoted

Theodorus Schrevelius Theodorus Schrevelius (25 July 1572 – 2 December 1649) was a Dutch Golden Age writer and poet. Biography He was born in Haarlem, and in 1591 went to study Greek and Latin at the University of Leiden. He became the assistant director of the L ...

, he was tried and placed on the '' painbench'', and thereupon sentenced to 20 years in the ''Tuchthuis'' (the Haarlem house of detention), on 25 July 1630.Johan Torrentius biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the

Digital library for Dutch literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

Although he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

– an admirer of the painter's works – intervened, and was able to secure his release after two years, hiring Torrentius as Court Painter. He stayed in England for 12 years, returning to Amsterdam in 1642. TorrentiusThibaultKB

Legacy

The painting ''Still life with Bridle'' inspired Polish poet and essayist Zbigniew Herbert to write an

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

on Torrentius and this picture entitled "Still life with Bridle" which also gave its title to his collection of essays on

Dutch Golden Age painting Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republ ...

(Wrocław, 1993). In the documentary ''Mysterious Masterpiece: Cold Case Torrentius'' (2016) by Maarten de Kroon in cooperation with Jeanne van der Horst, Torrentius' sole remaining painting ''Still life with Bridle'' is submitted to a close technical investigation. A series of experts (including Christopher Brown,

Walter Liedtke Walter Arthur Liedtke, Jr. (August 28, 1945 – February 3, 2015) was an American art historian, writer and Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was known as one of the world's leading scholars of Dutch a ...

and

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also ...

) comment on the artist's technique and life story. The film details the technical research shedding new light on Torrentius' work.

References

External links

Torrentius at the Dutch Rijksmuseum

Torrentius in documentary film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beeck, Johannes van der 1589 births 1644 deaths Painters from Amsterdam Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Dutch prisoners and detainees Dutch torture victims People convicted of blasphemy