Vermeyen, Jan Kornelius

Vermeyen, Jan Kornelius a Dutch painter, was born at Beverwyk, near Haarlem, in 1500. He was probably instructed by his father, Cornelius, an obscure painter. The emperor Charles V appointed him his principal painter, and he attended the monarch in all his expeditions, battles, sieges, and designed on the spot all the memorable events of the war by sea and land. In 1535 he was present at the siege and capture of Tunis, and made designs of the principal events, from which he afterwards executed cartoons for the tapestry of the Escurial. But most of the works which he executed for the emperor are supposed to have perished in the conflagration of the Prado. The latter part of his life he spent at Brussels, where he executed many works for the churches and public edifices. These are highly commended by Vau Mander. In the Church of St. Gery are two of his pictures, the Nativity and the Resurrection. He was also an engraver, but did not achieve great distinction in this department. He often received the names Johannes Barbatus, Barbalonga, Barbato, and similar titles, from the fact that he had a very long beard, which he is said to have cultivated with such care that it grew to his feet; and the emperor, in his merry moods, would tread upon it. He died in 1599. See Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, s.v.