Isaak van den Blocke

Izaak van den Blocke or Isaak van den Blocke (1574–1626) was a painter of Flemish descent who spent his active career in Poland. He is known for his decorative paintings in various official buildings and residences in Gdańsk. He also completed commissions for churches and painted facades. He was in 1612 one of the founders of the painters' guild of Gdańsk.

Life

The details about his early life are scarce. Sources identify his place of birth either as Mechelen in the Southern Netherlands or Königsberg (then in Prussia and today Kaliningrad in Russia).

In 1584 the family moved to Danzig (modern Gdańsk, Poland). Here he likely received training by or worked in the workshop of Paul Vredeman de Vries and his father Hans Vredeman de Vries.

He is thought to have painted the altarpiece of Tērvete church (nowadays Latvia) in 1614.

He received regular commissions from the city council, including figure paintings and the polychroming of buildings. He completed several assignments for churches in Danzig including the main altar of St Catherine's Church (together with Anton Möller).