MASSYS, Jan
(b. ca. 1510, Antwerpen, d. 1575, Antwerpen)

Biography

Quentin Massys' two sons were artists. Jan, who became a master in the guild of Antwerp in 1531, was banished in 1543 for his heretical opinions, spent 15 years in Italy or France, and returned to Antwerp in 1558. His early pictures were imitations of his father's work, but a half-length Judith with the Head of Holofernes of a later date, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, shows Italian or French influence, as does Lot and His Daughters (1563; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). Cornelis Massys (1513-79), Quentin's second son, became a master painter in 1531, painting landscapes in his father's style and also executing engravings.