Jan Frans van Douven [SEP] place of death
Jan Frans van Douven
Jan Frans van Douven, or Johan Francois Douven, (Roermond, 2 March 1656 – Düsseldorf, 1727) was a Southern Netherlandish portrait painter belonging to the Dutch Leyden School. Born in Roermond, he spent most of his life as Court painter in Düsseldorf, now in Germany, where he created most of his works.
Life and career.
According to Houbraken, his father Gerard Douven was a canon priest in the Roermond chapter and had spent several years in Rome, where he learned
of chassinets, a painted silk backdrop for shadow plays and room screen decorations.
His chassinets were popular with Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, whom he met through his Amsterdam friend Herman van der Mijn and Jan Frans van Douven. He won a commission to make screens with views of his properties, and Van der Mijn became the teacher of his daughter, the flower painter Jacoba Maria van Nickelen . After the death of the Elector in 1716 he moved to Kassel where he worked five years for the Landgrave on decorations for the