SAENREDAM Jan

(Zaandam 1565 – Assendelft 1607)

Dutch painter and engraver, a student of Hendrick Goltzius, from whom he learnt the art of chalcography. Orphan since he was still a child, Jan lived with his uncle Pieter de Jongh, a farmer in Assendelft, who sent him to school to learn to read and write, but also to weave straw and branches to become a basket maker. His skill in calligraphy and decoration meant that, despite his uncle’s decision to have him work on the farm, Jan was noticed and requested by a cartographer. One of his maps is included in Lodovico Guicciardini’s Descrittione di tutti I Paesi Bassi.

He entered the circle of Goltzius at the age of 24 and perfected his preparation as an engraver. Jan performed works with biblical, mythological and allegorical scenes derived from the master’s drawings, but also original ones of his own invention and others taken from Lucas Van Leyden, Bloemaert and Van Mander.
During this period of collaboration he engraved plates with both Goltzius and Jacob de Gheyn II. Because of some rivalry with Goltzius he moved to Amsterdam, then returned to Assendelft two years later where he married Anna Pauwelsdochter and where he set up a thriving engraving workshop attended by numerous and talented students.

He died in April 1607 following a typhoid infection at the age of only 41. At his death he left a considerable wealth obtained with lucrative investments in the West India Company. The inscription ‘Ioannis Saenredam Sculptoris Celeberrimi’ appears on his tomb in the church of St. Adolphus at Asseldelft.