Jan Roos (painter)

Portrait of a boy
Still life with fruit and vegetables

Jan Roos (1591 in Antwerp – 1638 in Genoa), was a Flemish artist who mainly worked in Italy where he was called Giovanni Rosa.

Biography

Jan Roos was the son of a merchant. He studied painting with Jan de Wael. In 1610 he joined the workshop of Frans Snijders, who had recently returned from Italy.[1] There he acquired a mastery in painting still lifes and animals. In 1614, Roos travelled to Genoa and then on to Rome, where he stayed for almost two years. With the intention of returning to Antwerp, he traveled back in 1616 via Genoa. Given the high demand for his work in Genoa he decided not to continue his return journey and so he stayed in Genoa for the remainder of his life.[2]

He married in Genoa with Benedetta Castagneto. He opened a workshop that became the busiest of the Flemish Genoese colony. His brother in law who is known only by his Italian name Giacomo Legi, but who was originally from Flanders, was a student in his workshop. It is possible that Roos was encouraged to seek his luck in Italy following in the steps of his first master Jan de Wael's two sons, Lucas (1591–1661) and Cornelis (1592–1667). Genoa was an attractive destination for artists since the competition between artists was less intense there than in Rome, Florence and Venice, while at the same time Genua was a wealthy city with a large number of potential customers and collectors.[3]

Works

He is best known for his still lifes but he also excelled in painting the human figure. In addition to work he produced as an independent artist, he collaborated with other artists. In particular, he collaborated with Anthony van Dyck during the two periods that Van Dyck stayed in Genoa (1621 and 1625–1627).[4] Some see the brush of Roos in the still lifes that appear in Van Dyck's Vertumnus and Pomona[5] and in Diana and Endymion.[6] The style of Van Dyck influenced Roos' work as can be seen in the Portrait of a boy, now in the Museo del Prado.

His work had a major influence on the art of the local painters of the Genoese school.

Notes

  1. ↑ Jan Roos at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  2. ↑ Jan Roos on the National Gallery website
  3. ↑ Flanders-Genoa: mutual exchange in 17th-century painting
  4. ↑ Jan ROOS called Giovanni Rosa
  5. ↑ File on Vertumnus and Pomona at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  6. ↑ File on Diana and Endymion at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)

External links

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