Adam de Colone

Adam de Colone, or Adam Louisz. de Colonia (c. 1572 in Antwerp – buried 19 August 1651 in Rotterdam), was a Dutch Golden Age painter active in Scotland during the reigns of James VI and I and Charles I of England.

Biography

It has been assumed that Adam was the son of the King's Painter in Scotland, Adriaen van Sonne (Vanson) and his wife Susanna de Colonia. However, more recent research reveals, according to the Netherlands Institute for Art History, that Adam was the brother of Susanna de Colonia, and they were the children of an Antwerp saddle maker Louis Jansz Colonia. Adam painted under the name Adam de Colonia in Rotterdam in the 1630s. Accordingly, Adrian Vanson, court painter to James VI, was Adam's brother-in-law. Adrian was originally from the Netherlands though all his children were born in Edinburgh.

Adam is presumed to have studied in the Low Countries, in 1598 he joined the guild in Dordrecht, and was presumably already active as a painter in 1593 in Rotterdam when he married. He was father of the painter Isaac Colonia (1611-1663) and grandfather of Adam Colonia (1634-1685). He was paid for London portraits by James I in 1623.

The Copenhagen Museum displays a picture by him of 'Noah building the Ark'; and the Lille Museum has 'The Angel appearing to the Shepherds' attributed to him.