Jan Joest, also known as Jan Joest van Kalkar or Jan Joest van Calcar, (born between 1450 and 1460 – d. 1519) was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 painter from either Kalkar

Kalkar

Kalkar is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the Rhine, approx. 10 km south-east of Cleves. The most famous building of Kalkar is its church St...

 or Wesel

Wesel

Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...

 (both now in Germany), known for his religious paintings.

Biography

Jan Joest was practically unknown until 1874, when two men, Canon Wolff and Dr. Eisenmann, established his identity.

Not much of Joest's life is known beyond his paintings. He was the son of Heinrich Joest en Katharina Baegert. His greatest work, scenes of the life of Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, were made between 1505 and 1508 on the high altar in St. Nicholai's Church in his hometown of Kalkar. Using documents found there, Canon Wolff discovered that, in 1518, Joest worked in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 for the Hackeneg family, before leaving, most likely for Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, where he saw Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 and Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

.

Joest then returned North, and settled in Haarlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

. It is possible that this is the same person as Jan Joesten van Hillegom that registered in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke

Haarlem Guild of St. Luke

The Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke was first a Christian, and later a city Guild for a large number of trades falling under the patron saints Luke the Evangelist and Saint Eligius.-History:...

 in 1502 and who made a painting of St. Willibrord

Willibrord

__notoc__Willibrord was a Northumbrian missionary saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands...

 and St. Bavo for the Egmond Abbey. The last edition of Adriaen van der Willingen's work of Haarlem painters mentions the burial of an artist there called "Jan Joosten" in 1519.

Two of Joest's apprentices were Barthel Bruyn

Barthel Bruyn the Elder

Bartholomäus Bruyn , usually called Barthel Bruyn or Barthel Bruyn the Elder, was a German Renaissance painter active in Cologne. He painted altarpieces and portraits, and was Cologne's foremost portrait painter in the sixteenth century.He was born in Wesel or Cologne. His early works suggest that...

 (his brother-in-law) and Joos van Cleve

Joos van Cleve

Joos van Cleve was a painter active in Antwerp around 1511 to 1540. He was born around 1485 and died in between 1540 and 1541...

.
Karel van Mander's Schilder-boeck mentions a Ioan van Calcker (Jan van Calcar

Jan Van Calcar

Jan Steven van Calcar was a Netherlandish-born Italian painter.-Life:Calcar was born in the Duchy of Cleves sometime between 1499 and 1510. Vasari refers to him several times, mainly with respect to his having been a pupil of Titian...

), living in Venice as a disciple of Titian

Titian

Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...

 in 1536-7. Karel van Mander further claimed that he illustrated the book of anatomy by Vesalius

Vesalius

Andreas Vesalius was a Flemish anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica . Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy. Vesalius is the Latinized form of Andries van Wesel...

, and died in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 in 1546.

Work

Joest has been compared to David

Gerard David

Gerard David was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color.-Life:...

 and Memling

Hans Memling

Hans Memling was a German-born Early Netherlandish painter.-Life and works:Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden...

, but he more properly belongs to the school of Scorel

Jan van Scorel

Jan van Scorel was an influential Dutch painter credited with the introduction of High Italian Renaissance art to the Netherlands.-Biography:He was born in Schoorl, north of Alkmaar and close to Egmond Abbey...

. One of the features of Joest's work is the exquisite transparency of his coloring and the subtle and delicate modelling of the faces.
Twenty panels painted by him can be seen in the church at Kalkar. Other works attributed to Joest are in Wesel and Rees

Rees, Germany

Rees is a town in the district of Cleves in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 20 km east of Cleves...

, as well as the "Death of the Virgin" in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

.