Pieter de Molijn

Landscape with conversing peasants. Ca. 1640. Budapest, Szépmuvészeti Múzeum.

Pieter de Molijn (6 April 1595 in London – 23 March 1661 in Haarlem) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver of English birth and Flemish descent.[1]

He was baptized in the Dutch Reformed Austin Friars church in London. He was born to Pieter de Moijn, from Ghent, and Lynken van den Bossche, from Brussels. It is possible that the family emigrated due to business rather than religious persecution.[1] Little is known of his early training, but he probably traveled to Italy and in 1616 he became a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. He was a contemporary of Jacob Pinas.[2] He married Geertuyt Huygen de Bie. During the years 1616–27 he lived in Delft where he remarried after his first wife died. In the marriage notice, his wife Geertruyt de Roovere is from Amsterdam and he is from Delft.

De Molijn was possibly a student of Esaias van de Velde. He taught several students, including Gerard ter Borch the Elder & his son, Jan Coelenbier, Allart van Everdingen, Christian de Hulst, Anthony Molijn (1635-1702), and Jan Wils.[3] De Molijn was known for his landscapes, but he also made genre pieces, marine scenes, portraits, and architectural pieces. This type of oeuvre is typical for the Italian-bound artists of his day, who paid their way as a jack-of-all-trades.

  1. ^ a b Allen, Eva J. (2003). Molyn [Molijn], Pieter (de). Oxford Art Online. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T058974. ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Retrieved 8 November 2021. Molyn [ Molijn ], Pieter ( de ) ( b London, bapt April 6, 1595; d Haarlem, bur March 23, 1661 ). Dutch painter, draughtsman and etcher of English birth and Flemish descent. His father, Pieter de Molijn, came from Ghent and his mother, Lynken van den Bossche, from Brussels. It is not known why they went to England, perhaps for employment rather than to avoid religious persecution.
  2. ^ Pieter Molyn biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
  3. ^ Pieter de Molijn in the RKD