Andries Cornelis Lens

André Corneille Lens (Andries Cornelis Lens, Antwerp, 1739 – Brussels, 1822) was a Flemish painter, illustrator, art theorist and teacher, known mainly for his history paintings of biblical and mythological subjects. Hoping to revive painting in Flanders, he looked to the classical traditions of the sixteenth century and to Raphael, becoming one of the promoters of Neoclassicism in Flemish art.

Trained by Carel Ykens the Younger and Balthasar Beschey, he soon stood out at the Antwerp Academy, where he taught and served as director from 1763. His appointment as court painter to the governor Charles Alexander of Lorraine enabled him to travel to Italy, where he spent almost four years copying the old Italian masters and, above all, Raphael. On his return, via Paris, he pushed for academic reforms focused on the study of antiquity and clashed with the Guild of St Luke, whose control over artists he helped loosen with a decree issued by Empress Maria Theresa in 1773.

In 1776 he published in Liège an illustrated book on the dress and customs of ancient peoples, with engravings by his former teacher Martenasie, which strengthened his reputation, especially in France. After moving to Brussels, he worked for Prince Albert Casimir of Saxe-Teschen and in 1811 published his artistic theories in Du bon goût. Although his work was not highly valued by Flemish artists of his time and he founded no school of his own, his painting remains a reference point for Neoclassicism in Belgium.