Antwerp 1626 – 1679

Jan van Kessel was the son of Hiëronymus van Kessel and Paschasia Brueghel (daughter of Jan Brueghel I (Velvet). He was active in Antwerp where he became a member of the Guild of St.Luke in 1645. He continued the tradition of his grandfather and was also influenced by Daniël Seghers. Van Kessel painted garlands and bouquets of flowers, but he is best known for small jewel-like pictures often on copper of insects or shells with vivid colours and great exactitude of detail.
Pictures from Jan van Kessel can be seen in Oxford, Ashmolean; Cambridge, Fitzwilliam; Madrid, Prado and Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum.

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