Jan Anton van der Baren
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Jan Anton van der Baren[1] (1615 – 30 or 31 December 1686) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, priest and museum curator active in Brussels and Vienna. He specialised in still lifes of flowers and vegetables, some of which include an architectural background.[2][3] He held the offices of court chaplain and director of the picture gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and Emperor Leopold I.[4]
Jan Anton van der Baren was likely born in Brussels. He became court chaplain to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, who resided in Brussels. He accompanied the Archduke on his return to Vienna in 1656 and remained there until his death.
In Vienna he became director of the picture gallery of the Archduke, one of the most extensive art collections in Europe at the time. Van der Baren compiled an inventory of the collection in 1659, although he probably did not himself draft the German language inventory that he signed together with three other members of the Archduke’s court administration.[3] David Teniers the Younger, who was the director of the Archduke’s collection while it was still in Brussels, painted the famous Archduke Leopold Willem in his gallery at Brussels. The painting includes a portrait of van der Baren (he is the third man from the right).[5][6]
After the Archduke’s death in 1662, van der Baren continued to hold the offices of court chaplain and director of the picture gallery under Emperor Leopold I.[4]
He died on 30 or 31 December 1686 in Vienna.[2]
