Johannes orJan Luyken (16 April 1649 – 5 April 1712) was a Dutch poet, illustrator, andengraver.[1]
He was born and died inAmsterdam, where he learned engraving from his father Kaspar Luyken.[1] He was achild prodigy.[2]
Luyken married at 19 and had several children, including renowned engraverCaspar Luyken.[1] At age 26 Luyken converted to theMennonite church, which inspired him to write moralistic poetry.[1]
Luyken illustrated the 1685 edition of theMartyrs Mirror with 104 copperetchings. Thirty of these plates survive and were part ofThe Mirror of the Martyrs exhibit.[3]
He also publishedHet Menselyk Bedryf ("The Book of Trades") in 1694, which contains numerous engravings of 17th-century trades by Luiken and his son Caspar (Caspaares).
Joris-Karl Huysmans' anti-hero Des Esseintes inÀ rebours was an admirer of Luyken's engravings and had prints from hisReligious Persecutions hung in his boudoir. He described them as "a collection of appalling plates displaying all the tortures which religious fanaticism has invented." Des Esseintes was enthralled not just by Luyken's graphic depictions but his ability to reconstruct times and places in his works.
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Media related toJan Luyken at Wikimedia Commons
