Jan Luyken

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Jan Luyken, portrait of A. Bronen in the Bowyer Bible in the Bolton Museum, England
Illustration by Jan Luyken from the Märtyrerspiegel: On November 10, 1571, the Frisian Mennonite Anneken Hendriks is burned at the stake in Amsterdam .
Moses before the burning bush . Etching from 1697

Jan Luyken , originally Johannes ; from 1698 he calls himself Jan - also Joannes , Joan or Jean Luyken as well as PILBC and Yan Raiken (born April 16, 1649 in Amsterdam ; † April 5, 1712 ibid) was a Dutch poet , graphic artist and illustrator .

Life

Jan Luyken was born as the fifth child of the married couple Caspar Luyken the Elder and Hester Coores. His father, a German immigrant from Essen, was a teacher at a Mennonite school .

At the age of 18 Jan Luyken began the apprenticeship of the painter Martin Saeghmolen. But after his death in 1669, with the help of the engraver Coenraet Decker, he turned to the art of copper engraving and etching , in which he made a name for himself during his lifetime. He made his debut with four prints that were published separately. In 1678 the first book appeared, Schat der Targets (Treasure of Souls) with engravings by Jan Luyken. The many works that followed were also mainly used to illustrate books. Luyken worked for numerous publishers in and outside Amsterdam. Today over 3,000 engravings are counted by him, some of which can be found in Dutch museums. His work for the second edition of the Märtyrerspiegel published in 1685 , a story of Christian martyrs from the apostles to the Christians of the 16th century, as well as for the class book of the Nuremberg engraver and publisher Christoph Weigel from 1698, in which also many are known, are best known Engravings from the book Spiegel van het menselyk bedryf published by Jan Luyken together with his son Kaspar in 1694 were received.

Jan Luyken was also active in literature. His first work, entitled Duitse Lier (German Lyre), appeared in 1671. It contains amorous poems with which he sang about his lover Maria de Oudens. The two married in 1672. Turning to religion, Luyken was baptized in 1673 in the Amsterdam Lammist community, which was strongly influenced by Galenus Abraham de Haen . A short time later he joined the Mennonite community in Beverwijk . More and more interested in Christian mysticism , he joined a circle of Gichtelians . This was a group of men and women around Johann Georg Gichtel , who was expelled from Regensburg in 1665 for his criticism of the church and who dealt intensively with the writings of the German mystic Jakob Böhme . Gichtel had finally found refuge in Amsterdam. A prominent member of his circle was the Dutch diplomat Coenraad van Beuningen .

From 1678 Luyken published a series of mystical writings influenced by pantheism , mostly in verse form. Many of his poems found their way into the Dutch Mennonite hymn book, the Doopsgezinde Bundel . The author provided all of these works with his own symbolic illustrations.

Jan Luyken and Maria de Oudens had five children together, but four of them died early. Only the first-born, her son Caspar , survived. He also became an engraver and worked occasionally with his father; a total of 36 common stitches are known.

Literary works

Published posthumously:

  • Man's begin, midden en einde (1712)
  • Urlycian divorced (1712)
  • Geestelyke brieven (1714)
  • Verzaameling van eenige geestelyke brieven (1741)
  • Het overvloeyend herte (1767)

Literature on the graphic work

  • Luyken, Jan: Martyrs Mirror: The Story of Seventeen Centuries of Christian Martyrdom, from the Time of Christ to AD 1660 , drawn and engraved in copper by Jan Luyken, 1158 pages - Herald Press (PA), 2001, edition: 2nd Rep, ISBN 0-8361-1390-X
  • Jan Luyken (Illustrator): On Fire for Christ: Stories of Anabaptist Martyrs , Herald Press (PA) 1989, 184 pages, ISBN 0-8361-3503-2
  • Margarete Wagner (editor): The sketches for Jan Luyken's status book , 224 pages, Herder, Freiburg 1987, ISBN 3-451-20915-2

Web links

Commons : Jan Luyken  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Luyken, Jan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch poet, graphic artist and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1649
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 1712
Place of death Amsterdam