Jan de Beer (painter)

Jan de Beer, formerly known as the Master of the Milan Adoration (c. 1475 – 1528) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and glass designer active in Antwerp at the beginning of the 16th century. He is considered one of the most important members of the loose group of painters active in and around Antwerp in the early 16th century referred to as the Antwerp Mannerists. Highly respected in his time, he operated a large workshop with an important output of religious compositions.

Jan de Beer was born around 1475 as the son of the painter Claes de Beer. His place of birth was in or near Antwerp. Claes de Beer and his family are known to have had possessions in Ekeren near Antwerp. Jan de Beer completed his apprenticeship with Gillis van Everen, a painter with a large workshop in Antwerp. Then he probably worked several years as the assistant of van Everen.

Jan de Beer only became a master of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1504. He was an alderman of the Guild in 1509 and in 1515 he was elected its dean, a position he held until at least 1519. He came into conflict with the Guild at some point and even filed in 1519 a lawsuit regarding Guild administration.

Jan de Beer was linked with other prominent painters of the Antwerp School such as Quentin Matsys. Jan de Beer and Matsys were invited to judge in a dispute over the quality of a painted and carved altarpiece commissioned for the town of Dunkirk in 1509. De Beer and Metsys were both fellow aldermen of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke. Another artist with whom he was linked was the leading landscape painter Joachim Patinir and the two artists may have collaborations on commissions.

In 1508, Jan de Beer married the brewer's daughter Katline Weygers. The couple settled on Kipdorp in Antwerp and had around 1509 a son called Aert or Arnould. Aert was like his father a painter and glass designer but died at young age in 1540.

Jan de Beer operated a large workshop and from 1510 he took on pupils to assist him. He contributed to the temporary decorations for the Joyous Entry of Archduke Charles V, the later Holy Roman Emperor. He also worked on the decoration of the float that represented the Antwerp Chamber of rhetoric De Violieren in the parade during the 'landjuweel' (land jewel, a competition between various Chambers of rhetoric) in Mechelen.

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