Geertgen Tot Sint Jans, (born c. 1465–died c. 1495), was a
Dutch painter of religious subjects, notable for his harmonious fusion
of the elements of the landscape.
Little is known of Geertgen's life: his surname derived from his living
with the religious order of the Knights of St. John at Haarlem, Netherlands,
where he was a pupil of the painter Ouwater at Haarlem. Many of his works
have been destroyed, but portions of his masterpiece, a large triptych
for the high altar of the Knights of St. John, survive. One wing, preserved
in the Vienna gallery of painting and fine arts, presages the great portrait
groups of 17th-century Dutch painting.
Several other paintings are ascribed to Geertgen on stylistic grounds,
such as “St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness” and
“Virgin and Child” in Berlin, “The Resurrection of
Lazarus” in the Louvre (Paris), “The Virgin's Kindred”
and “Adoration of the Magi” in Amsterdam, “The Man of
Sorrows” at Utrecht, and a triptych in Prague. His
“Nativity” in the National Gallery, London, is a night
scene remarkable for its rendering of chiaroscuro.
From October of 1916 through January of 1917, Rudolf Steiner gave a series
of nine lectures known as the Art Course. These lectures were given
the title of:
The History of Art.
Click here to discover what Steiner said about Geertgen in the
sixth lecture,
or in the entire
lecture series.