ES, Jacob van

Flemish painter. Together with Osias Beert and Clara Peeters, he was one of the leading representatives of the archaizing trend in Flemish still-lifes. His birthplace is known from the text on an engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar after a painting by Jan Meyssens (1612-70). Van Es became a master in Antwerp in 1617 but did not join the Guild of St Luke until 1645. Jacob Gillis and Jan van Thiene were his pupils in 1621 and 1623 respectively. He enjoyed a certain esteem among fellow artists, for Jacob Jordaens, Cornelis Schut the Elder and Deodaat del Monte were godfathers to his children. Numerous mentions of works by van Es in inventories of 17th-century Antwerp collectors further testify to his success; the inventory of Rubens’s collection, for instance, includes two still-lifes by van Es.