AMSTEL, Jan van - b. ~1500 Amsterdam, d. ~1542 Antwerpen

Netherlandish painter. He is possibly identified with the Master of the Brunswick Monogram (or The Brunswick Monogrammist) who is named after a painting at the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig of The Parable of the Great Supper (Luke 14). He painted religious scenes but also several scenes of secular merriment, including brothel and tavern scenes. This artist has been called a significant precursor of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Around 1528, van Amstel moved to Antwerp and joined the Guild of Saint Luke. He married Adriane van Doornicke, who would after his death remarry and give birth in 1544 to the future painter Gillis van Coninxloo.

Jan van Amstel is also probably the older brother of Pieter Aertsen and the brother-in-law of Pieter Coecke van Aelst.

Dispute in a Brothel

Other versions with similar compositions are recorded in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin; the Städel Museum, Frankfurt; the Hermitage, St. Petersburg; and in the Museo Correr, Venice. Such brothel scenes (bordeeljen) are notable for their early date, and in their details of contemporary life may be said to anticipate the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.