Victor-Janssens Io-recognized-by-her-father

Victor Honorius Janssens or Victor Honoré Janssens (or Jansens) (11 June 165814 August 1736) was a Flemish painter of religious and mythological works and a tapestry designer. He spent a substantial period of his career abroad and worked in Germany, Italy, Vienna and London. He was court painter of Emperor Charles VI of Austria in Vienna. He is mainly known for his mythological and history paintings.Victor Honoré Janssens
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

Life

Janssens was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

as the son of a tailor. He studied design and was entered as a pupil in the register of the Brussels

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 iden ...

in 1675.Paul F. State, 'Historical Dictionary of Brussels', Rowman & Littlefield, 16 Apr 2015 After working in the studio of

Lancelot Volders Lancelot Volders also erroneously known as Louis Volders, Lois Volders and Jan Volders (10 March 1636 (baptized) – 23 March 1723 (buried)) was a Flemish painter who specialised mainly in individual and group portraits but also produced a few ...

, he spent some time in the district of Oldenburg (now in the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

). Here he was the court painter to

Joachim Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön Joachim Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (9 May 1668, Magdeburg – 25 January 1722, Plön) (), also known as Joachim Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Plön, was the third Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Plön, a dukedom created by ...

. The Duke allowed him to visit Italy in 1681. Janssens stayed for about nine years in Italy and visited the main capitals of the country to study the masters. It has been assumed that Janssens befriended the Dutch painter of landscapes and seascapes Pieter Mulier the younger in Rome and that he painted the figures in his landscapes. The scholar M. Röthlisberger-Bianco has rejected this assumption. While in Napels, Janssens obtained a major commission to paint a large altarpiece for the church of the Jesuits. The artist returned in 1689 to Brussels and was admitted to the local

Guild of St 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 Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...

on 12 August 1689. The next year he applied for permission to work as a cartoon painter for the Brussels tapestry works. He married Jacqueline, daughter of the notary Andé Van den Dycke and Christine Van den Eyndes on 14 March 1690. Following the

Bombardment of Brussels During the Nine Years' War, the French Royal Army carried out a bombardment of Brussels from August 13–15, 1695. Led by King Louis XIV and the François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, Duke of Villeroi, French forces bombarded the city in an a ...

by the French in 1695, Janssens was commissioned to produce a number of paintings for the

Brussels Town Hall The Town Hall (, ; , ) of the City of Brussels is a landmark building and the seat of that municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is located on the south side of the Grand-Place, Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square), opposite the Goth ...

to replace those destroyed during the attack on the city. He also worked for the local guilds and churches.Guy Delmarcel, 'Flemish Tapestry from the 15th to the 18th Century', Lannoo Uitgeverij, 1 January 1999 He gained a solid reputation and became well-off. He was appointed the court painter of Emperor Charles VI of Austria and resided in Vienna from 1719 to 1722. On the recommendation of the Empress, the widow of

Emperor Joseph I Joseph I (Joseph Jacob Ignaz Johann Anton Eustachius; 26 July 1678 – 17 April 1711) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1705 until his death in 1711. He was the eldest son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor from his thi ...

, he spent several years in London. He spent his later years in Brussels, where he eventually died in 1736.

Work

Janssens' principal works are the series of paintings which he produced for the Brussels Town Hall. He was mainly a painter of historical subjects. His style reflects trends in Italy of the late 17th century and a classical bias. Two sets of cartoon series he produced for the Brussels tapestry workshops are recorded. A first commission in 1711 from the workshop of the brothers Urbanus and Daniel II Leyniers involved the painting of six designs in oil on canvas on Greek history themes and was later referred to as "Famous men from Plutarch". The Leyniers brothers' workshop merged in 1712 with that of their cousin Hendrik II Reydams, which took over the cartoons. The number of cartoons was increased to 8 in 1715 and to eleven in 1734. Various editions of the tapestries have survived. Janssens executed the designs according to the fashion for classicist history painting and he developed the themes in wide and balanced compositions. The series shows Janssens' mature synthesis of historical and monumental painting.Thomas P. Campbell, Pascal-François Bertrand, Jeri Bapasola, 'Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor', Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Jan 2007 This series established Janssens' reputation as a designer of tapestries and he received in 1716 a commission from the

States of Brabant The States of Brabant were the representation of the three estates (nobility, clergy and commons) to the court of the Duke of Brabant. The three estates were also called the States. Supported by the economic strength of the cities Antwerp, Bruss ...

to make designs for a series of tapestries on the history of the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...

. The designs were realised by the Leyniers-Reydams workshop the next year and still adorn the Brussels Town Hall. Recent investigations have shown that Janssens made the designs for three other tapestries: ''Zephyr abducts Psyche to an enchanted palace'', ''Zephyr transports Psyches sisters to this palace'' and ''Psyche discovers the identity of Cupido'' (Paris, Louvre).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janssens, Victor Honore Flemish history painters Flemish tapestry artists 1658 births 1736 deaths Artists from Brussels Painters from Brussels 17th-century Flemish painters 18th-century Flemish painters