Jean Humbert de Superville (

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 ...

, 7 May 1734 – buried

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 o ...

, 22 September 1794) was a Dutch painter of

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

extraction. Humbert was primarily known as a portrait painter. Humbert was the son of Pierre Humbert, a merchant from

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

who had settled in Amsterdam in 1706 as a bookseller and publisher, and his second wife Emilie de Superville, daughter of Daniel de Superville, a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

theologian from

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...

who had fled to the Dutch republic in 1685. Humbert studied painting in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he served as apprentice to Jean Fournier and subsequently probably also to Joseph-Marie Vien. In 1761 or 1762 he moved from Amsterdam to

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 of ...

. In 1767 he became an apprentice of the academy of drawing of the local painter's guild

Confrerie Pictura The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague (the Netherlands) by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there. History The guild of St. Luke in the Hague existed a ...

. In 1787 he was chosen as one of the guild officers and in 1792 he was even elected as head of the guild. He painted portraits as well as historic and mythological subjects. His portrait subjects included

Dutch East India 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 ...

official Abraham du Bois (1760), politician Hendrik Fagel (1766) and writer Isabelle de Charrière (1769). The portrait of du Bois originally hung in the Dutch East India Company offices in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, but is now part of the collection of the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

in Amsterdam. Humbert designed the ornate decorations of the facade of The Hague's town hall during the wedding of

Stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

William V to Wilhelmina of Prussia in 1767. He also painted a room in the courthouse of The Hague. A work by Humbert hung in the stadtholder quarters at the

Binnenhof The Binnenhof (; en, Inner Court) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministr ...

but it was removed around 1808 along with a number of other paintings during a remodeling ordered by king

Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...

, who had used the stadtholder quarters as a royal palace since 1806. In 1768, Humbert married Elisabeth Antoinette Deel. The marriage produced seven children, including: *

Jean Emile Humbert Jean Emile Humbert (23 July 1771 in The Hague – 20 February 1839 in Livorno) was a Dutch lieutenant-colonel who can be credited with rediscovering ancient Carthage. As an agent for the Dutch government he procured vital parts of the collecti ...

, a military engineer credited with rediscovering ancient

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

* David Pierre Giottino Humbert de Superville, a scholar and artist who wrote the influential ''Essai sur les signes inconditionnels dans l'art''.

External links

Rijksmuseum.nl: Portrait of Abraham du Bois, painted by Jean Humbert

Sources

(Dutch)

(Dutch)

(Dutch)

(Dutch) * ttp://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/oh/2003/00000116/F0020003/art00001 Trudie Rosa de Carvalho-Roos, "Hoe houdt de stadhouder hof?" ''Oud Holland'', Vol. 116, Nrs. 3-4, 2003, pp. 121-223(Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Humbert, Jean 18th-century Dutch painters 18th-century Dutch male artists Dutch male painters Painters from Amsterdam Dutch people of French descent Dutch people of Swiss descent 1734 births 1794 deaths Painters from The Hague