Daniël Mijtens facts for kids
Daniël Mijtens (born around 1590 – died 1647 or 1648), also known as Daniel Mytens the Elder, was a famous Dutch Golden Age portrait painter. He came from a family of Flemish artists. He spent many important years of his career working in England, painting portraits for the royal family and other important people.
Biography
Daniël Mijtens was born in Delft, a city in the Netherlands. His father, Maerten Mijtens, was an art dealer. Daniël grew up in a family of artists. He learned to paint in The Hague, possibly with the artist Van Mierevelt. He was the nephew of painter Aert Mijtens and the older brother of painter Isaac Mijtens. His own son, Daniel Mijtens the Younger, also became a painter. We don't have any of his early paintings from his time in the Netherlands.
Around 1618, Daniël Mijtens moved to London, England. His first important supporter there was Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, a major art collector. Mijtens painted portraits of the Earl and his wife. Soon, he was asked to paint King James I and his son, Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales.
When Charles became King Charles I in 1625, Mijtens became a very busy artist. He painted many full-length portraits of the King and his courtiers (people who worked for the King). He likely had helpers in his workshop because he painted so many pictures, including copies. Two of his best portraits are of the same person, James Hamilton. Mijtens painted him when he was 17 in 1623, and again in 1629.
Mijtens traveled to the Netherlands in 1626 and 1630. He probably went to learn about new painting styles from artists like Rubens and Van Dyck.
Daniël Mijtens brought a new, more natural style to court portraits in England. He influenced other painters like Abraham van Blyenberch. However, in 1632, a very famous artist named Anthony van Dyck arrived in England. Van Dyck soon became the top court portrait painter. Van Dyck showed he was better by painting a portrait of the King and Queen that was based on Mijtens's work but was even more skillfully done.
Around 1634, Mijtens seems to have moved back to the Netherlands for good. After that, he mostly worked as an art dealer in The Hague. He bought artworks for people like the Earl of Arundel. Only four of his paintings are known from this later period. He passed away in The Hague.
Some of Daniël Mijtens's paintings are still owned by the Royal Family today. He also made copies of older portraits of royal figures, such as James IV of Scotland, his wife Margaret Tudor, and Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1625, he also made a copy of a painting called Venus by the famous artist Titian.
See also
In Spanish: Daniël Mijtens para niños
