Cornelisz. van Oostsanen, Jacob

Cornelisz. van Oostsanen, Jacob (also called Jacob van Amsterdam) (b Oostsanen, nr. Amsterdam, c.1475; d ?Amsterdam, 1533). Netherlandish painter and designer, active mainly in Amsterdam, where he was a successful painter and the leading designer of woodcuts in his period. The woodcuts include a series illustrating the Passion (1512–17) and among the paintings are a self-portrait (1533, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) and an Adoration of the Shepherds (1512, Mus. di Capodimonte, Naples), which contains pudgy angels playing toylike instruments, singing, and decorating an improbable Renaissance manger with garlands. Although his work is somewhat provincial, he marks the beginning of the great artistic tradition of Amsterdam, and his keenness of observation was to be one of the trademarks of later Dutch art. Jan van Scorel was possibly his pupil. Several other members of Jacob's family were artists, notably his brother Cornelis Buys, who has been identified as the Master of Alkmaar.