REESBROECK, Jacob van - b. 1620 Antwerpen, d. 1704 Hoogstraten - WGA

REESBROECK, Jacob van

(b. 1620 Antwerpen, d. 1704 Hoogstraten)

Flemish painter and engraver. He studied painting as well as engraving and became a master of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1641. He received many commissions for portraits from ecclesiastical clients, local and foreign secular patrons. He was asked by Balthasar Moretus II to produce four portraits of members of the Moretus family, the owners of the Plantin Press in Antwerp. He also painted the portraits of prominent aristocrats such as those of Charles-Antoine de Calonne and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.

In 1682 Van Reesbroeck moved his residence to Hoogstraten, a small town in the immediate vicinity of Antwerp. In Hoogstraten he painted four paintings representing the four church fathers for the St John the Evangelist Church of the local beguinage. These are the only known works in his oeuvre which are not portraits.

Portrait of Balthasar II Moretus

Jacob van Reesbroeck was asked by Balthasar Moretus II (1615-1674) to produce four portraits of members of the Moretus family, the owners of the Plantin Press in Antwerp.

The Plantin Press was established by Christophe Plantin (c. 1520-1589). After Plantin’s death, his firm was taken over by his son-in-law, Jan Moretus. Balthasar II Moretus, the son of Jan II Moretus, took over the running of the Plantin publishing house on the death of Balthasar I Moretus, who had remained single. Although Balthasar II Moretus initially continued to publish numerous historical and literary works, the proportion of religious editions had risen to nearly 100% by the time of his death in 1674. The highly lucrative nature of the exporting of liturgical works to Spain led to the Plantin press discontinuing all other printing work. The firm began to decline in the second half of the 17th century.

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Portrait of Balthasar III Moretus

Jacob van Reesbroeck was asked by Balthasar Moretus II (1615-1674) to produce four portraits of members of the Moretus family, the owners of the Plantin Press in Antwerp.

The Plantin Press was established by Christophe Plantin (c.1520-1589). After Plantin’s death, his firm was taken over by his son-in-law, Jan Moretus. Moretus and his descendants continued to print many works of note in Officina Plantiniana, but the firm began to decline in the second half of the 17th century. Balthasar III Moretus (1646-1696) was the head of the Officina Plantiniana from 1674 to 1696. On 1 September 1692 he was ennobled by the King of Spain, receiving the title of jonkheer.

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Portrait of Edward Hyde

Jacob van Reesbroeck made a good living out of his portrait painting. The portrait of Edward Hyde illustrates the high quality of his style. The calculatedly nonchalant elegance and the tactile quality of the fabrics are more indicative of contemporary Dutch portrait painting in the style of Van der helst than of Van Dyck, who in all respect was much more influential in Flanders.

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was a British statesman who after the execution of Charles I of England left England and resided in Antwerp between 1649 and 1653 with his second wife and daughter.

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Portrait of Portrait of Anna Goos

Jacob van Reesbroeck was asked by Balthasar II Moretus (1615-1674) to produce four portraits of members of the Moretus family, the owners of the Plantin Press in Antwerp. Anna Goos was the wife of Balthasar II

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