Willem Jacob Herreyns

Willem Jacob Herreyns (Antwerp, 1743-1827) was a Flemish painter of historical subjects and portraits, regarded as one of the last representatives of the Flemish Baroque tradition and the last follower of Peter Paul Rubens. He is remembered today more for his teaching and his role in the academic and museum life of Antwerp than for his paintings.

Coming from a family of artists, he received his first training from relatives before studying at the Antwerp Academy, where Balthasar Beschey was one of his teachers. After travelling from 1767, he settled in Mechelen in 1771, where he directed the local drawing school, which became an academy in 1772. His religious works, in the manner of Rubens, were mostly commissioned by institutions in the province of Antwerp, and in 1775 he designed floats and triumphal arches for celebrations in Mechelen. After 1797 he devoted himself mainly to portraiture.

During the French occupation he saved many paintings from churches and monasteries in 1797, and in 1800 he was appointed professor-director of the former Antwerp Academy, a post he held until his death. In 1810 he obtained Napoleon's permission to set up a museum in the city's former Franciscan monastery.

His painting is marked by good colour, with a tendency towards reds and dark tones, and by precise drawing, although critics have faulted him for a certain coldness and lack of originality. His legacy lies today more in his educational influence than in his reputation as a painter, since his pupils included Antoine Wiertz and Gustaaf Wappers.