Nicolaas van der Horst

View of Brussels, engraved by Abraham Dircksz. Santvoort, after van der Horst

Nicolaas van der Horst or Nicolaus van der Horst (Antwerp, circa 1587-1598 – Brussels, 1646) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer. He was courtier at the court of the governors of the Habsburg Netherlands in Brussels and given the title of Archer de la Garde. He also was a cartographer. He is now known less for his paintings than for his designs for prints published by the Antwerp printers.

Life

Little is known about van der Horst's early life. The Flemish artist biographer Cornelis de Bie wrote in his Het Gulden Cabinet published in 1662 that van der Horst (whom de Bie refers to as Nicolaes vander Horst) was trained by Rubens. Upon completing his training he travelled through various countries where, according to de Bie, his work was highly regarded.

Van der Horst's only surviving painting is a work preserved in the Brussels City Museum. It shows Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain at the procession of Our Lady of Laeken. This event took place in Laeken, now in Brussels, on 4 June 1622. The painting is a wide landscape in which a large procession is proceeding towards the church of Laeken. It is made up by archers, 345 Beguines, lancers and the Infanta Isabella, accompanied by her courtiers. The Infanta is wearing the religious black clothes she started wearing after her husband's death

The artist seems to have had a close relationship with the Thurn und Taxis family. He made for members of the family portraits, drawings of their funeral monuments and designs for tapestries. He designed two tapestries at the occasion of the wedding of Duke Leonhard II of Thurn und Taxis and Duchess Alexandrine of 1646. Each tapestry shows a portrait of respectively the bride and the bridegroom on horseback. The Duchess hol the reins in her left hand and the whip in her right, conform to the riding style of the courts as taught in Le Maneige Royal by de Pluvinel. This high level of dressage riding was not common for ladies in side-saddle.