Jan Joost van Cossiau

Who was Jan Joost van Cossiau?

Jan Joost van Cossiau was a Flemish landscape painter and engraver who was born near Breda. He spent most of his career in Frankfurt am Main. His landscapes usually include people, and also often buildings and cattle. They are in the “Italian style” and generally resemble those of Gaspard Dughet. Cossiau worked for Lothar Franz von Schönborn at his electoral court, as well as at his Schloss Weißenstein. He was also director of the electoral gallery at Pommersfelden, where he established the final directory of paintings, after the first survey by Johann Rudolph Bys. In order to extend his gallery, Lothar Franz sent his two gallery directors often to the Netherlands and Italy. Jan Joost van Cossiau died in Mainz in 1732.