Jan Mortel

(Leiden 1652 - 1719)

Biography

Jan Mortel

Jan Mortel (1652–1719) was a Leiden still-life painter, admitted to the Guild of Saint Luke in 1675. Influenced by Jan Davidsz. de Heem and Abraham Mignon, he specialised in fruit, flowers, insects and butterflies. Appointed official artist to Leiden University’s Hortus Botanicus, he joined Dutch decorative richness with close botanical observation and luminous detail.