Govert Flinck

Having received his first painting lessons in Leeuwarden with Lambert Jacobszoon, the young artist started studying under Rembrandt in Amsterdam. Flinck perfected his teacher’s style to such a degree that for a long time his portraits and history paintings were sold as genuine Rembrandts. Later on in his career he developed a smoother, more elegant classical style. The Dutch writer Joost van den Vondel greatly admired Flinck and wrote poems to accompany individual paintings by him. The artist was well connected and this helped him develop a broad customer base. He embarked on a series of paintings for Amsterdam’s city hall on the Batavian revolt against the ancient Romans, but died before its completion. The job was completed by other painters, including Jordaens and Rembrandt.