I bought this little print in an antique shop many years ago.
I don't know about you but I can never leave an antique shop
without making some small purchase!
All I had to go by was the handwritten note on the back,
'Dutch Interior by Janssens'
It's a bad shot, taken through the glass
but I didn't want to destroy the back any further.
Now, which Janssens?
Years ago I couldn't find much at all
and the other day, decided to do another search.
And, voila!! But, do you notice anything different?
A maid has walked in to sweep the floor!
Nowhere could I find my painting with the little dog, sans maid.
My 'Janssens' is the Dutch painter Pieter Janssens (1623-1682). Born in Bruges, the son of Gisbrecht Janssens, he was a 'Golden Age' painter and changed his name to Elinga in 1653. His oeuvre was interiors and he is best known for his 'Perspective Box', which now hangs in the Museum Bredius in The Hague.
'Perspective Box'
Another 'Janssens' was Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen (1593-1661), an English portrait artist of Dutch or Flemish parents, who changed his name to Johnson when in England and Jonson when in Europe. Art critic and historian, Alexander Joseph Finberg (1866-1939) said, "so long as auctioneers are born with an ingrained conviction that a foreign-looking name gives greater value to a picture than an English name, so long may we expect to find Cornelius (sic) Johnson or Jonson masquerading in catalogues as Cornelius Janssens."
Yet another is Abraham Janssens (also known as Abraham Janssens van Nuyssen), a Flemish 'Baroque Era' painter, c.1573-1632.
Now, to find this artist. It's badly framed but I
had to have it! Do you know the artist?
