Jacques de Saint-Luc was a Flemish

Flemish people

The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...

 lute

Lute

Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....

nist and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Saint-Luc was born in Ath

Ath

Ath is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Hainaut. The Ath municipality includes the old communes of Lanquesaint, Irchonwelz, Ormeignies, Bouvignies, Ostiches, Rebaix, Maffle, Arbre, Houtaing, Ligne, Mainvault, Moulbaix, Villers-Notre-Dame, Villers-Saint-Amand, Ghislenghien...

 in 1616; nothing is known about his early years. In 1639 he was invited to become a musician at the court in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, and two years later he had his portrait painted by Gerard Seghers

Gerard Seghers

Gerard Seghers , also Zegers, was a Flemish Baroque painter and one of the leading Caravaggisti in the Southern Netherlands.-Biography:...

. He moved to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in mid- or late 1640s, but returned to Brussels in October 1647. The composer evidently spent the next few decades in Brussels, marrying in 1658. An important correspondent of Saint-Luc's from these years was Constantijn Huygens

Constantijn Huygens

Constantijn Huygens , was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Christiaan Huygens.-Biography:...

. In August 1684 Saint-Luc was still living in Brussels, but nothing is known of his whereabouts during the next 16 years: the next mention of him is from 1700, when he visited Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 on the occasion of the marriage of Prince Frederick of Hesse-Cassel

Frederick I of Sweden

Frederick I, , was a prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and a King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730...

 and Princess Louise Dorothea of Prussia

Princess Louise Dorothea of Prussia

Luise Dorothea, Princess of Prussia was the daughter of Frederick I, First King in Prussia by his first wife Elisabeth Henriette of Hesse-Kassel. She was the Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Kassel by marriage but died in childbirth.-Biography:On 31 May 1700, she married her first cousin Frederick of...

. He apparently travelled to Berlin from Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, where, according to contemporary sources, he was employed by Prince Eugene of Savoy

Prince Eugene of Savoy

Prince Eugene of Savoy , was one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history, rising to the highest offices of state at the Imperial court in Vienna. Born in Paris to aristocratic Italian parents, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV...

. Saint-Luc was still alive in 1707 and 1708, when he published some of his composition in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

; his date of death is unknown.

More than 200 pieces by Saint-Luc survive, and show that he was one of the most prominent lutenists of his time. Although he was influenced by French composers (Ennemond Gaultier

Ennemond Gaultier

Ennemond Gaultier was a French lutenist and composer. He was one of the masters of the 17th century French lute school....

, Denis Gaultier

Denis Gaultier

Denis Gaultier was a French lutenist and composer. He was a cousin of Ennemond Gaultier.-Life:...

, Charles Mouton

Charles Mouton

Charles Mouton was a famous French lutenist and lute composer.There is only little information known about him. He was born probably in Rouen, studied probably with Denis Gaultier and early in his career, he worked at the court of the dukes of Savoy in Turin. In the 1660s, he taught lute Paris...

, and others) and adopted their scheme of grouping pieces into suites, he only used the characteristic French style brisé

Style brisé

Style brisé is a term for broken, arpeggiated texture in instrumental music. It usually refers to French Baroque music for lute, keyboard instruments or the viol. French Baroque musicians referred to this type of texture as style luthé , since it originated in lute music...

in his preludes.