Jan Lievens (1607–1674)
Pilate Washing his Hands, dated 1624-1625
Oil on panel
74 x 106 cm.
Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden
The Roman governor Pilate thinks that Jesus hasn't done much harm and wants to let him go. But the Jewish priests and the crowd make him punish Jesus anyway. By washing his hands, Pilate shows he feels no responsibility for the events.
In the background to the right Jesus is taken away.
Jan Lievens was about 18 years old when he painted this panel. The rich details in Pilate's costly robe show he already was a very skillful artist. More on this painting
Jan Lievens (24 October 1607 – 4 June 1674) was
a Dutch painter, usually associated with Rembrandt, working in a similar style.
According to Arnold Houbraken, Jan was the son of a tapestry worker, and was
trained by Joris Verschoten. He was sent to Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam at
about the age of 10 for two full years. After that he began his career as an
independent artist, at about the age of 12 in Leiden. He became something of a
celebrity because of his talent at such a young age. This attracted the
attention of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, around 1620, who bought a
life-size painting of a young man reading by the light of a turf-fire. He gave
this painting in turn to the English Ambassador, who presented it to James I.
This was the reason why, when Lievens was 31, he was invited to the British
court. When he returned from England he settled in Antwerp, where he married
Suzanna Colyn de Nole, the daughter of the sculptor Michiel Colyns. In this
period he won many commissions from royalty, mayors, and city halls.
Lievens
collaborated and shared a studio with Rembrandt van Rijn from about 1626 to
1631. Their competitive collaboration, represented in some two dozen paintings,
drawings and etchings, was intimate enough to cause difficulties in the
attribution of works from this period. Lievens showed talent for painting in a
life-size scale, and his dramatic compositions suggest the influence of the
Caravaggisti. Lievens was more inventive, yet less expressive than Rembrandt.
The two men split in 1631, when Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam and Lievens to
England. In 1656 Rembrandt still owned paintings by his former friend.
During his time in England Lievens painted a portrait for
Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and became influenced by the works of
Anthony van Dyck. Lievens worked in Antwerp, and cooperated with Adriaen
Brouwer. After being a court painter in The Hague and Berlin, he returned to
Amsterdam in 1655. After his first wife died he married a sister of Jan de Bray
in 1648. After 1672, the Rampjaar Lievens had increasing financial difficulties
and his family voided all claims of inheritance on his death due to his
debts. More
on Jan Lievens
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