- NamePaul van Somer
- Sexmale
- Nationality/DatesFlemish, born 1576, dead 1621
BiographyPaul van Somer i was a portrait and history
painter. He was active in Antwerp in 1604 but only
two years later he was working in London. Between
1612 and 1614 he worked in Leiden and in 1616 in
Brussels. Here he was commissioned to paint portraits
of Archduke Albert and his consort Isabella. In
1616 he settled in London where in 1617 he became
court painter to Queen Anna, the consort of the English
king. He also worked for the queen’s brother,
Christian IV of Denmark. Van Somer painted portraits
in a style that recalls Marcus Geerarts II, Daniel
Mytens and Robert Peake. Graphic reproductions of
many of his works were executed by Simon de Passe
(1622) and T. Chambers, for instance the engravings
by the latter artist for Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting
in England.1