Sunday, September 5, 2021

Jacob van Oost the Elder and the Younger

Jacob van Oost the Elder
Head of a Girl
ca. 1650
oil on canvas
private collection

Jacob van Oost the Elder
The Calling of Matthew / Family Portrait
1641
oil on canvas
Groeningemuseum, Bruges

Jacob van Oost the Elder
The Calling of Matthew / Family Portrait (detail)
1641
oil on canvas
Groeningemuseum, Bruges

Jacob van Oost the Elder
Holy Family with St Elizabeth and young St John the Baptist
1643
oil on panel
Ulster Museum, Belfast

Jacob van Oost the Elder
Portrait of a Boy, aged 11
1650
oil on canvas
National Gallery, London

Jacob van Oost the Elder
Diana the Huntress
before 1671
oil on canvas
Grosvenor Museum, Chester

Jacob van Oost the Elder
Adoration of the Shepherds, with St Anthony
ca. 1645
oil on canvas
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

attributed to Jacob van Oost the Elder
Boy with Wild Goose and Tray of Mushrooms
before 1671
oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

attributed to Jacob van Oost the Elder
St John the Evangelist
ca. 1640
oil on canvas
private collection

Jacob van Oost the Elder
Female Martyr
before 1671
oil on canvas
Groeningemuseum, Bruges

Jacob van Oost the Younger
Infant Christ presented with the Cross by God the Father
1697
oil on canvas
Église Saint André de Lille

Jacob van Oost the Younger
St Charles Borromeo praying for Plague Victims
1668
oil on canvas
Église Saint Maurice de Lille

Jacob van Oost the Younger
Christ and the Woman of Samaria
1668
oil on canvas
private collection

Jacob van Oost the Younger
St Macarius of Ghent giving Holy Communion to Plague Victims
1673
oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre

Jacob van Oost the Younger
Portrait of a Man
ca. 1680-90
oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Jacob van Oost the Elder (1603-1671) was the father of Jacob van Oost the Younger (1637-1713).  Both were prominent artists in Bruges, where Jacob the Elder served as official city painter from 1651 until his death.  He spent several years in Italy during the 1620s, absorbing the influence of Caravaggio above all.  In addition to religious and allegorical scenes, van Oost the Elder became the dominant portraitist of the Bruges bourgeoisie.  His Calling of Matthew (near the top of this post) actually combines his two favorites genres, in a Caravaggesque Biblical narrative that doubles as a family portrait.  Jacob the Younger spent his middle years in the French town of Lille, after marrying there.  Many of his paintings are consequently to be found in France, though he did return to Bruges toward the end of his life.  

Jacob van Oost the Elder
The Crowning with Thorns
1661
oil on canvas
Groeningemuseum, Bruges

Jacob the Elder's Crowning with Thorns of 1661 demonstrates that even forty years after his direct experience of Caravaggio's work in Rome, the Flemish artist was still vividly haunted by it.