Jan de Mabuse

Jan de Mabuse , c.1478-c.1533, Flemish painter, b. Maubeuge. His real name was Jan Gossaert or Gossart. He may have studied in Bruges before joining the Antwerp guild in 1503. In 1508 he went for a year with his patron, Philip of Burgundy, to Italy, where he was strongly influenced by Italian art and ancient sculpture. He was among the first Flemish artists to represent the nude and classical mythology in a manner derived from Italy. His forms are solid and heavy, and their surfaces are rendered with smooth precision. Mabuse also executed some impressive portraits. The imperious attitude he gave to his subjects was highly popular in his time. A Donor and His Wife (Brussels), Neptune and Amphitrite (Berlin), Danaë (Munich), St. Luke Painting the Virgin (versions in Vienna and National Gall., Prague), and Jean Carondelet Adoring the Virgin (Louvre) are characteristic paintings.

Bibliography: See H. B. Wehle and M. Salinger, Early Flemish, Dutch and German Painters (1947).

Mabuse (1478–1536) ( Jan Gossaert) Netherlandish painter. He began his career in the tradition of Gerard David and Hugo van der Goes, but changed his style dramatically after a visit to Italy as an assistant to Philip of Burgundy in 1508–09. Italianate features appeared within his Netherlandish style, as seen in Neptune and Amphitrite (1516).