Justus van Egmont (1601–1674)

• Was a Flemish painter.
• Justus van Egmont was born in Leiden as the son of Dirk Joostzone van Egmont, and Constantia Leenaerts.
• In Antwerp Justus became an apprentice of the painter Gaspar van den Hoecke in 1615.
• After a stay in Italy in 1618, van Egmont returned to Antwerp and worked in the workshop of Rubens from the year 1625 to about 1628, where he was involved in the series of paintings on The Life of Maria de Medici
• He became a master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1628.
• While living in Antwerp, he had a relationship with Emerentia Bosschaert who bore him three sons out of wedlock.
• Their relationship was later regularized and the couple would have more children.
• Sometime time between 1628 and 1630 van Egmont moved to Paris.
• In Paris, van Egmont established a friendship with fellow Flemish painter Philippe de Champaigne.
• He is mentioned as a court painter for the House of Orléans from 1635.
• In 1648, he was one of the founders of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and was elected as one of the original twelve elders in charge of its running.
• In January 1649 he was in Brussels where he painted a Portrait of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria.
• In 1653 van Egmont returned to Antwerp with his family.
• Starting from 1650 he signed some paintings and documents with 'Justus Verus d’Egmont'.
• When he died in 1674, his social status allowed him to be buried in Antwerp's prestigious St. James' Church where Rubens was also buried.
• His pupils included Jacob Gillis in 1621 and Jan van Tienen in 1623.

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