Jan Gossaert

Jan Gossaert (c. 1478–1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries, also known as Jan Mabuse after Maubeuge, his probable birthplace. Little is known of his training. He joined the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1503 and in 1508–09 went to Rome, very likely with the embassy of Philip of Burgundy, in whose employment he apparently remained until Philip's death in 1524, living at Middelburg and at Duurstede Castle. The journey made him one of the first Netherlandish painters to visit Italy and a leader of Romanism, the style that carried Italian Renaissance elements north. He painted large altarpieces, portraits and mythological subjects, mostly for patrons in the Habsburg circle. His Descent from the Cross for Middelburg drew Albrecht Dürer to the town in 1521, and The Adoration of the Kings is in the National Gallery, London. He later served Adolf of Burgundy at Middelburg and died in Antwerp. Here: Christ between the Virgin and St John the Baptist.