Jan Erasmus Quellinus

Jan Erasmus Quellinus (1634 in Antwerp – 11 March 1715 in Mechelen) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman and a member of the famous Quellinus family of artists. He was one of the last prominent representatives of the great Flemish school of history and portrait painting in the 17th century. His work displays the classicizing influences of his father Erasmus Quellinus the Younger and Paolo Veronese. Mainly active in his native Antwerp, he worked for some time in Vienna for the Habsburg court as a court painter to Emperor Leopold I.

Life Jan Erasmus Quellinus was born into a family of sculptors and painters, which included, amongst others, his grandfather Erasmus Quellinus the Elder, his father Erasmus the Younger, and his uncles Artus Quellinus the Elder and Hubertus Quellinus. He was trained by his father from 1649. During his stay in Northern Italy he was also introduced to the architecture of Palladio, which informed some of the decorative motifs he used in his later compositions. Jan Erasmus Quellinus received many commissions including a large commission for paintings destined for Antwerp's Saint Michael's Abbey.

Around 1680 Quellinus worked in Vienna for the Habsburg court as a court painter to Emperor Leopold I. Among other works, the most important commission he completed was a series of 15 ceiling paintings on events in the life of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Some of these works are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.