Lot 556: s - VICTOR HONORÉ JANSSENS,BRUSSELS 1658 - 1736

IO RECOGNISED BY HER FATHER

71 by 91.6 cm.; 28 by 36 in.

signed lower right V.Janssens

oil on canvas, in a carved and gilt wood frame

NOTE

Janssens was the pupil of Lancelot Volders (circa 1635 - circa 1675) and also studied under Peter Molijn (1595 - 1661). He travelled to Italy under the patronage of Herzog Joachim II von Holstein-Plon where he spent several years assimilating the Roman classicism which is so evident in the present composition. On his return to Brussels in 1685 he became a master of the Guild of Saint Luke. After the bombardment of the city in 1695 by Louis XIV he received several important commisions which consilidated his reputation. The crowning ahcievement of his career was his appointment, in 1720, as the court painter to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.

The subject is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses (1:639-663).