Huchtenburg

Who was Huchtenburg?

Jan and Jacob van Huchtenburg were two Dutch Golden Age painters in the second half of the seventeenth century. Both brothers were natives of Haarlem, moved to Paris, but died in Amsterdam. The main source about their lives is from Arnold Houbraken. Some of the information from the 19th century is contradictive.

Jacob van Huchtenburg studied under Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. In 1662 he went to Italy and stayed in Rome until 1667. On his way back to Holland he stayed in Paris for more than a year, where he probably met up with his brother Jan. In 1669 he joined the Haarlem artists' guild. His pictures are probably confounded with those of his brother. He became well-to-do and lived on Prinsengracht. One is in the Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu.

Jan van Huchtenburg, was a famous Dutch horse and battle painter, like Esaias van de Velde and Philip Wouwermans. He was first taught by Thomas Wijck. On his way to visit his brother in Rome, he may not have got further than Paris, where he served under Antony Francis van der Meulen in the Manufacture des Gobelins employing him for illustrating, sketching or designing.