Jan van Hemessen was a Flemish Mannerist painter. He painted biblical scenes staged in everyday surroundings, usually with a moral lesson in mind and depicting the eternal conflict between virtue and vice. The men and women in his paintings are exposed to endless temptations, which only their faith enables them to withstand. Although there is no conclusive evidence of the fact, his monumental figures and use of bright colours suggest that he had travelled in Italy. He taught his daughter Catharina how to paint, and she became one of the very few women painters working in Flanders at that time.
Jan van Hemessen was a Flemish Mannerist painter. He painted biblical scenes staged in everyday surroundings, usually with a moral lesson in mind and depicting the eternal conflict between virtue and vice. The men and women in his paintings are exposed to endless temptations, which only their faith enables them to withstand. Although there is no conclusive evidence of the fact, his monumental figures and use of bright colours suggest that he had travelled in Italy. He taught his daughter Catharina how to paint, and she became one of the very few women painters working in Flanders at that time.
