Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen

Dirk Rafelsz Camphuysen (1586, Gorinchem9 July 1627, Dokkum) was a Dutch painter, poet and theologian.

Biography According to Houbraken, he was the son of a respected surgeon at Gorcum. His mother was a mennonite whose father Hans van Mazeik was beheaded for his beliefs. His mother died when young Dirk was eight, and his father followed her soon after into the grave. He practised art quite successfully until the age of eighteen, whereupon he started to study languages. Houbraken was surprised that Camphuysen let his son learn painting, since his biography seemed to be a treatise against the pursuit of arts.

Family tree

Works Camphuysen left a translation of the Psalms, and a number of short pieces of poetry. He was also author of several theological works, among which is a Compendium Doctrinae Sociniorum. His pictures are mostly small. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, the best of his works are his sunset and moonlight scenes and his views of the Rhine and other rivers.

Dokkum, Zuiderbolwerk cemetery.