Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen

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Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (before 1470, Oostzaan – 1533) was a Northern Netherlandish designer of woodcuts and painter. He was one of the first important artists working in Amsterdam, at a time when it was a flourishing provincial town.

1 Biography
2 Career
3 Paintings
4 Source
5 References

[edit] Biography

Little is known about Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen's life. He was believed to be born in Oostsanen. This region is suggested to be his birthplace due to his family managing land in that area. He was the brother of Cornelis Buys, also known as Master of Alkmaar and the father of the portrait painter Dirk Jacobsz.

[edit] Career

In his earlier years Jacob Cornelisz was under the influence of Haarlem painter Geertgen tot Sint Jins. His later influence then became painter Albrecht Durer. He may have gone to visit him in Antwerp in the 1520s.The painting patterns of his earlier works suggest he was trained as a woodcut designer or goldsmith.

There are about 200 known woodcuts and 27 paintings by Cornelisz. His prints are traditional north Netherlandish small-scale book illustrations. Writings are used to present the narrative with actions placed in the foreground.

Throughout his artistic career Cornelisz's painting style changed. At first he started as a late Gothic craftsman under the influence of the Haarleem school and then ended with a style presented by the painting Saul and the Witch of Endor. In this particular painting the details are simple, elongated proportionss and a looser stroke of paint. Though he excelled as a technical painter, he was not a good leader. He progressed at presenting contemporary trends in subject-matter and style.

Cornelisz's symbolism was also conservative as well. He painted mostly sacred themes with traditional iconography in old and new combinations in response to an event, such as Reformation. Some of his works such as Christ as the Man of Sorrows (1510) was used by biblical humanists and the Amsterdam oligraphy. They wanted to defend Catholic orthodoxy against the claims of early Reformers. The painting represented Roman Catholic beliefs in an easily understood format. Other paintings such as The Nativity (1512) and Saul and the Witch of Endor were visually similar to what the Catholic essays patrons were writing.

Later in his life Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen ran a workshop with pupils, like his son Dirk Jacobsz and Jan van Scorel. In the workshop his assistants helped him design book illustrations, woodcuts and stain-glass windows. After 1526 Jacob produced only one known painting, Self Portrait (1533). Scholars were led to believe this was the year of his death, but according to I.H van Eeghen there was a seven year gap between paintings which was unusual. He suggested it could have been his son that produced the Self Portrait (1533).

Some regard him as the last of the Flemish painters not to show an Italian influence.^[1]