(c. 1475 -1555/1556) was a Dutch painter of portraits and religious subjects, though his most famous creation was the "West Indies Landscape". Although little is known of him, Mostaert was born and lived in Haarlem for most of his life. He worked as portraitist for Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands. Much of his work was destroyed in the great fire of Haarlem in 1576, and some paintings once attributed to him are now attributed to Adriaen Isenbrant. Mostaert was born in or about 1475 in Haarlem, Netherlands, to a famous noble family. Said to be handsome, eloquent and polite, Mostaert honed his craft under the guidance of Jacob van Haarlem, who may have actually been the anonymous "Master of the Brunswick Diptych". He is also said to be linked to the early Haarlem School of Painting. Mostaert's name first appeared in city records in 1498, the year he married and bought a house in his birthplace. He is also mentioned in Haarlem archives from 1527 to 1554. In 1500 Mostaert was commissioned to paint the shutters for a receptacle housing the relics of Saint Bavo in the Groote Kerk, Haarlem. From this date he began to be listed in the records of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, and continued to be frequently listed until 1549. He became deacon of the painters' guild in 1507, and again in 1543 and 1544. His earliest works are noticeably influenced by Geertgen tot Sint Jans, an earlier Haarlem artist. Some believed that Mostaert was actually apprenticed to tot Sint Jans but it is doubtful that the artist had any apprentices or workshop assistants during his career. From tot Sint Jans, Mostaert adopted a refined style and thoughtful compositions for his works, as well as the stiff, angular look of his figures. St. ChristopherBetween 1510 and 1516 Mostaert developed a delicate style where his doll-like figures inhabited bright, blue-skied landscapes, as for example in his "Adoration of the Magi" (c. 1510-15). His refined brushwork is precise, with an almost religious attention to detail. Also of note is the landscape, which demonstrates his leanings towards more romantic views with expansive hills. During the 1520s Mostaert was also influenced by Joachim Patinir's take on landscapes. Mostaert's "St. Christopher", a painting with a landscape that features a river receding into an expansive and hilly background, was once even attributed to Patinir. Mostaert's portrait work of this earlier period includes a piece entitled "Portrait of Abel van den Coulster" (c. 1500-10), in which an elegant, thin-faced man is situated in equally elegant surroundings. Mostaert was known for copying original portraits for some of his courtly commissions but, as is the case with the "Portrait of Abel", he also painted figures from life and added aristocratic touches. He was known for presenting his portrait sitters in three-quarter-length and placing their hands on cushions.  Related Paintings of Jan Mostaert :. | Portrait of a unknown man | The Crucifixion | Portrait of Jan van Wassenaer | Christ Shown to the People | Triptych with the last judgment and donors |
Related Artists:
Florentine School
first half of the sixteenth century
Jean Malouel
Niemegan before 1370-Dijon 1415
BASSA, Ferrer
Spanish painter active 1324-1348 His workshop was in Calle Cucurulla, Barcelona, and commissions from a variety of patrons, mostly royal, are documented. In 1324 he was paid for painting two chapels and two crosses for the church at Sitges. Between c. 1333 and c. 1335 he illuminated a book on the Usages of Barcelona and Customs of Catalonia for Alfonso IV of Aragon, and in 1335 he was paid for an altarpiece. Further payments, in 1339 and 1340, were for two altarpieces for the chapel of the Aljaferea Palace (a Moorish palace) in Saragossa. About 1340 he received a commission for an altarpiece of St Hilary for the diocese of Lleida (Sp. Lerida). In 1341 Bassa had begun work on three altarpieces for the Episcopal See at Lleida, commissioned by Ot de Montacada (c. 1290-1341). In 1342 Peter IV (the Ceremonious) of Aragon asked his wife, Maria of Navarre, to send him a Book of Hours illuminated by Ferrer Bassa, and in the same year the artist was also paid for a commission by Queen Constanza of Mallorca. In 1343 and 1344 he was paid for an altarpiece and other works for the chapel of the Aljaferea Palace in Saragossa and for an altarpiece for the chapel of the royal palace at Barcelona. In 1344 Bassa was commissioned to decorate the S Miguel Chapel, then the cell of the abbess in the Pedralbes Monastery, Barcelona, although he only started work in 1346. He was involved in further royal commissions in 1345, including an altarpiece for the chapel of the castle at Perpignan.