Jan Soens

Jan Soens (Dutch pronunciation: [jɑn ˈsuns]; c. 1547 – c. 1611), also known as Giovanni Sons, was a Dutch painter from 's-Hertogenbosch who mainly worked in Italy.

Rinaldo and Armida, from the play Jerusalem Delivered

Biography

According to Karel van Mander he moved to Antwerp to live with a schoolmaster named Jacob Boon, whereupon he taught himself the rudiments of painting.^[1] After becoming proficient, he moved in with the painter Gillis Mostaert, and assisted him creating landscape paintings in the manner of Gillis' twin brother Frans Mostaert.^[1] A few of these early landscapes could be seen in Amsterdam at the home of Hendrick Louwersz Spieghel at the time Karel van Mander was writing in 1604.^[1] Soens and he had met during Karel van Mander's trip to Italy, where Soens made small pieces on copper for the Pope in Rome.^[1]

According to the RKD he was in Rome from 1573 and in Parma from 1575.^[2] He was particularly active from 1575 with the Farnese in Rome, and in Piacenza and Parma in the early seventeenth century.^[3] He painted history works, such as the mannerist Jupiter and Antiope,^[4] as well as religious paintings reflecting the Council of Trent's decrees on art and Counter Reformation ideals of clearly represented piety.^[5] He died in Parma between 1611 and 1614.