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Jan van Kessel (1626-1679) Jan Van Kessel the Elder (1626-1679) was born in Antwerp, into an artistic family. His father was the painter Hieronymus van Kessel and his mother Paschaise Brueghel, the daughter of Jan ‘Velvet’ Brueghel. At an early age in 1634 or 1635 Jan became a pupil of Simon de Vos and was registered a Guild member in Antwerp. In 1644, aged 18 he became a master painter. His work was influenced by such artists such as Georg Hoefnagel, his uncle Jan Brueghel the Elder and Balthasar van der Ast. Van Kessel painted a variety of artworks but is best known as a flower painter and for his small paintings of flowers and insects. He produced many small format paintings, often depicting sprigs of flowers or fruit, with insects, shells and other invertebrates. These were painted on small panels or copper sheets. He frequently painted natural history items with a shadow, giving the appearance that the object was detached from the background, a style that had first been developed for use in the ornamental borders of early manuscripts. A successful artist, Van Kessel also had a sense of humour. In one painting he painted his signature in the form of a series of caterpillars !! Van Kessel’s work was imitated by other artists and
much work is attributed to him.
Jan Van Kessel’s artistic output included small panels of studies of flowers and insects. This painting, in a set of seven panels is an example of such work. Similar panels were often used to ornament cabinets during this period. This painting has been attributed to Van Kessel and is typical of his work. It depicts a number of European insects and is currently the subject of research by Museum staff. The painting reflects the growing interest in natural history during the seventeenth century and the popular pastime of building personal natural history collections or cabinets of curiosity. This is an example of artwork, painted on copper. During
the early seventeenth century, Antwerp was a major centre
for the production of paintings on copper. The technique had
been introduced from Rome by Jan Brueghel the Elder on his
return to his native Antwerp in 1595. The method became popular
with many artists including Van Kassel.
From the collection of Sir Hans Sloane. Sloane’s catalogue of paintings has the entry: “128. Seven views of insects on copper. Bought of Kinsy”. The painting was found in a storeroom in the British Museum
in 1878, and later transferred to the Department of Zoology.
Exhibition and publication details This painting has not been on public display. Further examples of Van Kessel's work can be seen in Oxford (Ashmolean Museum), Cambridge (Fitzwilliam Museum ), and Madrid (Prado). Thackray, J. C. A. (1995) A catalogue of portraits, paintings and sculpture at the Natural History Museum London. Mansell: London. 70pp.
References and further reading Komanecky M. K.; Horovitz,I.; Eastaugh, N. Antwerp Artists and the Practice of Painting on Copper. Journal of Scientific Art Research Vol. 1 , pp.1-7. Accessed 22/12/04. Mitchell, P. (1973) Great Flower Painters: Four centuries of floral art. The Overlook Press: New York. 272pp. Segal, S. (1990) Flowers and Nature. Hijnk International:
Amstelveen. 302pp.
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