Dutch · Dutch Golden Age
Thomas de Keyser
b. c. 1596, Amsterdam — d. 1667, Amsterdam
Thomas de Keyser (c. 1596–1667) was a leading Amsterdam portrait painter of the 1620s and 1630s, known for small, polished full-length portraits, who later ran a stone business and from 1662 supervised construction of Amsterdam's new town hall.
Thomas de Keyser was a Dutch painter and stonemason, born in Amsterdam around 1596, the son of the city's great architect and sculptor Hendrick de Keyser. Before Rembrandt arrived in Amsterdam he was the city's most fashionable portraitist, and in old age he returned to his father's trade and to the building of the Amsterdam town hall, now the Royal Palace on Dam Square.
Life in brief
In 1616 Thomas and his brother Pieter were apprenticed to their father as stonemasons, and in 1622 Thomas joined the Amsterdam Guild of St Luke as a painter. His teachers in painting are thought to include Cornelis van der Voort. From 1624 to 1654 he ran a business dealing in Belgian bluestone, which he finally sold to his brother. In 1662 he was appointed city stonemason and succeeded Daniël Stalpaert as chief supervisor of the construction of the new town hall, a post he held until his death in 1667. He was buried in the Zuiderkerk, which his father had designed.
Style
De Keyser's speciality was the small full-length portrait, with sitters standing or seated in a carefully described room, painted with a smooth, precise finish. He also painted group portraits of guild officers and militia companies. The Osteology Lesson of Dr. Sebastiaen Egbertsz (1619) and Syndics of the Amsterdam Goldsmiths Guild (1627) show the formula that Rembrandt would soon transform.
The town hall and the Atlas
The catalogue's Statue of Atlas belongs to the Amsterdam town hall designed by Jacob van Campen. The figure of Atlas carrying the heavens was designed by the Flemish sculptor Artus Quellinus, whose workshop produced the building's sculpture; a bronze cast was set on the rear roof in the 1660s, and the full-size model stands inside the Burgerzaal. De Keyser's connection is as the building's supervisor from 1662, after Daniël Stalpaert, during the final stages of its construction.
Where to see his work
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam holds the largest group of his paintings; others are in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hermitage and the National Gallery, London. The town hall can be visited as the Royal Palace on Dam Square. See more in Baroque Art.
Questions & answers
Who was Thomas de Keyser?
Thomas de Keyser (c. 1596–1667) was an Amsterdam portrait painter and stonemason, son of the architect Hendrick de Keyser. He was the city's leading portraitist before Rembrandt and from 1662 supervised construction of the Amsterdam town hall.
Who made the Atlas statue in Amsterdam?
The Atlas carrying a celestial globe on Amsterdam's Royal Palace was designed by the Flemish sculptor Artus Quellinus for the town hall by Jacob van Campen. Thomas de Keyser supervised the building's construction from 1662.
Where can I see Thomas de Keyser's paintings?
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has the largest collection of his work, and paintings are also in the Mauritshuis, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hermitage and the National Gallery in London.