Jan Anthonie Coxie

[2] Coxie was born in Mechelen some time between 1650 and 1670 in an artistic family with a long tradition going back to the 16th century.

De Geest published in 1702 a book with engravings of Antique sculptures under the title Het Kabinet der Statuen ons van d’Aloudheid Nagelaten, which he dedicated to his master and friend Coxie.

This triptych was in the collection of William I of the Netherlands, but is now lost although a copy by Willem Joseph Laquy exists.

[5][6] Although successful as testified by the praises sung of his work by local poets Sybrand Feitama and François Halma, he left Amsterdam and is recorded in Berlin from 1705 to 1708.

[7] One of his masterpieces produced during his early career in Flanders is the large Group Portrait of the Fayd'Herbe Family in an Architectural Setting (in a private collection) of 1693.

Hovering overhead, Mercury heralds the arrival of the life-giving god and Saturn ushers in the Golden Age with his scythe.

He also included images of the Four Continents as well as the Four Seasons, which are familiar allusions to political power and thus affirm the greatness of Frederick I.