Jan Joest

Jan Joest was practically unknown until 1874, when two men, Jacob Anton Wolff [de] and Oskar Eisenmann, established his identity.

His greatest work, scenes of the life of Christ, were made between 1505 and 1508 on the high altar in St. Nicholai's Church in his hometown of Kalkar.

Using documents found there, Wolff discovered that, in 1518, Joest worked in Cologne for the Hackeney family, before leaving, most likely for Italy, where he saw Genoa and Naples.

It is possible that this is the same person as Jan Joesten van Hillegom that registered in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1502 and who made a painting of Willibrord and Bavo of Ghent for the Egmond Abbey.

[1] The last edition of Adriaen van der Willingen's work of Haarlem painters mentions the burial of an artist there called "Jan Joosten" in 1519.

Portrait of a man, around 1505. 32 × 31 cm. Wood. Germanisches Nationalmuseum , Nürnberg
One of twenty panels in the St. Nicolai church in Kalkar.
The high altar at St. Nicolai's Church, Kalkar