Jan Albertsz Rotius
Encyclopedia
Jan Albertsz. Rotius is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
- buried 1 November 1666, Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...
) was a Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...
portrait painter, and father (and teacher) of the flower painter Jacob Rotius
Jacob Rotius
-Biography:According to Houbraken he was a pupil of Jan Davidsz de Heem, whose style he successfully copied. He earned a good living as a flower painter, but died relatively young due to his "melancholy attitude"....
.
Biography
He was baptized ‘Albert Jansz. Rootgies’, but he later latinized his name to Rotius, which was garbled by Houbraken into Roodseus, possibly because in his marriage document he is listed as Rootseijus. According to Houbraken, he heard that his portraits were as good as Bartholomeus van der HelstBartholomeus van der Helst
Bartholomeus van der Helst was a Dutch portrait painter.-Biography:Born in Haarlem, the son of a Haarlem innkeeper, Van der Helst moved to Amsterdam some time before 1636, for he was married there in that year...
, but he noted that he had been unable to make this judgement with his own eyes and doubted the veracity of this statement himself. He said that his schuttersstukken
Schutterij
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the...
were well known, being painted in Hoorn in 1651, '52, and '55, when he was aged 40. This would place his birthdate from between 1612 and 1615, which would fit with his statement that he had been a pupil of Pieter Lastman
Pieter Lastman
Pieter Lastman was a Dutch painter . Lastman is considered important because of his work as a painter of history pieces and because his pupils included Rembrandt and Jan Lievens...
, who died in 1633. If he was born in 1624, then he was only 9 years old when Lastman died, which didn't give him much time to learn from him.
According to the Hoorn archives, he married Maartje Ambrosiusdr in 1643. In his testament dated Oktober 16th, 1666, he left all of his prints and drawings to his son Jacob Rotius or Rootius (1644-1682). He died a few days later, aged 42, and was buried in the Grote Kerk in Hoorn. Of his seven children, only three lived to adulthood. Houbraken claimed that Jacob was a pupil of Jan Davidsz. de Heem and was quite successful as a flower painter, but died of melancholy at 50.
Rotius's schutterstukken were painted quite soon after similar paintings in Amsterdam were completed by van der Helst and Govert Flink. Comparative study shows he was influenced by these paintings, and perhaps was encouraged to achieve similar effects by his patrons. Hoorn competed with Amsterdam at that time as a seaport.