David Vinckboons

Dutch, 1576–ca. 1633

BiographyDavid Vinckboons was born in the Flemish city of Mechelen on 13 August 1576. His father Philip (1545-1601) was also a painter, and David received his first training from him. Following the fall of Antwerp to Spanish forces in 1586, and the ensuing persecution of Protestants throughout the Southern Netherlands, the Vinckboons family emigrated to the Northern Netherlands, and settled in Amsterdam in 1591. David Vinckboons married Agnieta van Loon in 1602; the couple had ten children, several of whom became mapmakers, painters, or architects. The exact place and date of Vinckboons's death are not known, but his wife is referred to as a widow in a document of 12 January 1633.

Vinckboons painted primarily landscapes and genre scenes, the latter often in outdoor settings. These densely forested views reflect his contact with the Flemish-born landscape painter Gillis van Coninxloo (1544-1607). Vinckboons was also active as a draftsman and designer of prints. Among his pupils and followers were Gillis d'Hondecoeter (ca. 1575/80-1638) and (probably) Esaias van de Velde.