Joannes van Houbraken

Joannes, Jan or Giovanni van Houbraken, van Houbracken or Houbraken (c. 1600 – ) was a Flemish painter and art dealer. He painted religious compositions and allegorical genre scenes. He lived and worked for a while in Italy, first in Rome, later in Naples and finally in Messina. He became familiar with the work of the Caravaggisti, whose style influenced him. After his return to Antwerp he engaged in trade with Italy and sent his works and other items produced by Antwerp craftsmen to patrons in Italy.

Life Details about Joannes's life are sketchy. In the past he was erroneously identified with the Giovanni Battista Vanderbrachen or Jan-Baptist van den Broeck, a silk merchant and consul, who became a member of the Oratorio della Compagnia dei Mercanti in Messina in 1647 and who died in 1665 in Messina where he was buried at the Oratorium of the order of the San Franscesco dei Mercanti. He was likely also not identical with the tapestry designer with the same name who became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1640. The works of the two artists show too many stylistic differences. He travelled to Italy in the 1620s like many Flemish artists of his generation such as Anthony van Dyck. In the 1630s he moved from Rome to Naples and ultimately to Messina in Sicily. Here he familiarized himself with the work of the local Caravaggist Alonzo Rodriguez. His son Nicola was born in Messina. The family remained in Messina until they left it for Livorno in 1674 following the Messina revolt against Spanish rule. Nicola became a successful still life painter, who worked for local patrons and also sent works to all parts of the country.

It is not clear when or where Joannes died.

Work He painted religious compositions and allegorical genre scenes. He became familiar in Italy with the work of the followers of Caravaggio and, in particular, those active in the south of Italy such as Ribera and Alonzo Rodriguez. He is influenced by Rodriguez' interpretation of the work of Caravaggio,

His oldest known work was the Discovery of the bodies of St. Placidus and company, painted in the Church of Maria dell'Arco in Messina, now in the Interdisciplinary Regional Museum of Messina. To him has also been attributed a series of the five senses in the Bellomo Palace Regional Gallery of which the date is unknown. The style of the five works in the series shows a mix of his Flemish training and the work of Caravaggio and Ribera. A Crucifixion with May, John and Mary Magdalene dated 1657 has a classicist composition.

His style shows the Flemish eye for detail and the dramatic effects of the southern Italian Caravaggist school with its emphasis on pathos. The intense, melancholy drama of his works is heightened by the use of cold colors and strong light effects, which contrast with the otherwise muted palette.