Jan van Essen - Fleet review before Naples

Jan van Essen (c. 1640 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

– 1684 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

), was a Flemish painter known for his seascapes. After training in Antwerp, he worked in Italy, particularly in Rome and Naples.Jan van Essen
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

A pupil of Sebastiaen de Bruyn in Antwerp in 1659, Jan van Essen spent time in Turkey between 1665 and 1669 with the Flemish battle painter painter

Pieter Hofman Pieter Hofman (c. 1642 in Antwerp – 1692 in Rome), was a Flemish Baroque painter. After training in Antwerp, he spent the rest of his career in Turkey and Italy where he painted battle scenes.Bentvueghels The Bentvueghels (Dutch for "Birds of a Feather") were a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists active in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. They are also known as the Schildersbent ("painters' clique"). Activities The members, which included ...

' (shortened as the 'bent'). The Bentvueghels admitted new members in a ceremony in which they were given a nickname, the so-called 'bent name'. Van Essen's bent name was 'Santruyter' or 'Zandruiter' (Horseman on the sand).Santruyter
in

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 ...

, ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'', 1718 He was present at a dispute in Rome on 30 September 1669 or around 1670 and attended a farewell dinner in Rome organised by the Bentvueghels for the Flemish engraver Albertus Clouwet. He remained in Italy and died in 1684 during a stay in Naples.

Work

Jan van Essen - Naval parade in the Bay of Naples

Jan van Essen is known for his topographical views and landscape paintings.Three of his known works depict

vedute A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre ...

of the port of Naples. Two of these works are in the collections of respectively the Museo Nazionale di San Martino in Naples and the

Brukenthal National Museum The Brukenthal National Museum ( ro, Muzeul Național Brukenthal; german: Brukenthalmuseum) is a museum in Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania, established in the late 18th century by Samuel von Brukenthal (1721-1803) in his city palace. Baron Brukent ...

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

, Romania. The third is in a private collection in Spain and depicts the port of Naples with the review of the fleet led by Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter. Michiel de Ruyter was commander of a Dutch-Spanish fleet defending the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

against French attacks. The painting shows the

Viceroy of Naples This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Naples. Following the conquest of Naples by Louis XII of France in 1501, Naples was subject to the rule of the foreign rulers, the Kings of France, Aragon and Spain and the Habsburg Archdukes of Austria ...

paying tribute to de Ruyter's fleet after it repulsed an initial attack at the

Battle of Stromboli The Battle of Stromboli, also known as the Second Battle of Stromboli or the Battle of Alicudi, took place on 8 January, 1676, during the Franco-Dutch War. The battle occurred between a French fleet of 20 ships under Abraham Duquesne and a combin ...

. The veduta in the collection of the Museo Nazionale di San Martino entitled ''Naval parade in the Bay of Naples'' is signed "signed Gio . van Essen fecit". Painted around 1650, it was the first painting to depict the port of Naples from the sea. The viewpoint is elevated and directed towards the San Vincenzo pier. Van Essen incorrectly placed

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of s ...

on the west side. The painting in the Brukenthal National Museum is more rudimentary with a viewpoint directly towards the San Vincenzo pier. It depicts Mount Vesuvius in the correct location. He also painted vedute of Messina and Rome.Jan van Essen, ''Vedute del Campidoglio a Roma''
at Artnet

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Essen, Jan van 1640s births 1684 deaths Flemish Baroque painters Flemish marine artists Artists from Antwerp