Jan Luyken

[1] He was born and died in Amsterdam, where he learned engraving from his father Kaspar Luyken.

[1] At age 26 Luyken converted to the Mennonite church, which inspired him to write moralistic poetry.

Joris-Karl Huysmans' anti-hero Des Esseintes in À rebours was an admirer of Luyken's engravings and had prints from his Religious Persecutions hung in his boudoir.

He described them as "a collection of appalling plates displaying all the tortures which religious fanaticism has invented."

Des Esseintes was enthralled not just by Luyken's graphic depictions but his ability to reconstruct times and places in his works.