Jan van Amstel was a Dutch Northern Renaissance

Northern Renaissance

The Northern Renaissance is the term used to describe the Renaissance in northern Europe, or more broadly in Europe outside Italy. Before 1450 Italian Renaissance humanism had little influence outside Italy. From the late 15th century the ideas spread around Europe...

 painter.

In or before 1528, van Amstel moved to Antwerp, when he joined its Guild of Saint Luke

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 identified by John of Damascus as having painted the...

. He married Adriane van Doornicke, who would after his death remarry and give birth in 1544 to the future painter Gillis van Coninxloo

Gillis van Coninxloo

Gillis van Coninxloo was a Dutch painter of forest landscapes, the most famous member of a large family of artists. He travelled through France, and lived in Germany for several years to avoid religious persecution....

. He is also probably the older brother of Pieter Aertsen

Pieter Aertsen

Pieter Aertsen , called Lange Pier because of his height, was a Dutch historical painter. He was born and died in Amsterdam, and painted there and in Antwerp, though his genre scenes were influential in Italy.-Biography:...

 and the brother-in-law of Pieter van Aelst

Pieter van Aelst

Pieter van Aelst or Pieter Coecke van Aelst was a Flemish painter. He studied under Bernaert van Orley and later lived in Italy before entering the Antwerp Guild of painters in 1527. In 1533, he travelled to Constantinople for one year in a failed attempt to establish business connections for...

.

Van Amstel is possibly identical to The Brunswick Monogrammist, for the signature J. V. AMSL appears on the latter's The Feeding of the Poor or Feeding of the Five Thousand

External links

• Jan van Amstel page on Artcyclopedia
• Info at the Netherlands Institute for Art History

See also

• List of Dutch painters
• Flemish painting
  Flemish painting
  Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century. Flanders delivered the leading painters in Northern Europe and attracted many promising young painters from neighbouring countries. These painters were invited to work at foreign courts and had a Europe-wide influence...