Jan de Herdt

Jan de Herdt (c. 1620–1684) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman trained in Antwerp during the height of the Southern Netherlandish Baroque tradition. Although little is known about his early workshop experience, his style reflects the influence of the Rubens school in its confident drawing and clear narrative sense. De Herdt left Antwerp in the mid-17th century and established himself in Central Europe, where his talents as a portraitist and designer found steady patronage among aristocratic and imperial circles. His ability to produce dignified, well-structured likenesses made him a sought-after collaborator for court projects and printed histories. Working primarily in Vienna and later in Prague, de Herdt supplied designs for engravers including Franciscus van der Steen and others associated with the Habsburg publishing world. His drawings were used extensively in illustrated works such as Gualdo Priorato's Historia di Leopoldo Cesare, one of the most ambitious pictorial histories of the period. De Herdt’s compositions balanced clarity, authority, and courtly refinement, securing his reputation as a reliable designer for official portraiture and historical subjects across the expanding Habsburg territories.