- NameJustus Sustermans
- Sexmale
- Nationality/DatesFlemish, born 1597, dead 1681
BiographyJustus Sustermans, who was the brother of the
painters Cornelis, Jan and Frans Sustermans, painted
portraits and history paintings. He also painted still
lifes. In 1609 he became the pupil of Willem de Vos in
Antwerp. Around 1616 he travelled to Paris where he
spent three years working under the supervision of
Frans Pourbus II, at that time court painter at the
French court. Sustermans then travelled to Italy
around 1619/1620 with Florence as his destination.
He completed works for the Medici families and the
Dukes of Tuscany as well as for Cosimo II, Ferdinando
II and Cosimi III. He spent the period 1622–1624
working in Vienna for Ferdinand II, who ennobled
him. He also worked in a number of other Italian
cities, among them Rome in 1627 and 1645, Parma,
Piancenza and Milan in 1640, Ferrara in 1645, Genoa
in 1649 and Modena in 1649 (?), 1650, 1653 and 1656.
He probably travelled to Spain in 1649 and worked in
Innsbruck in 1653/1654 for Anna Maria de Medici,
the consort of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Susterman’s
early portraits betray the influence of his
teacher Frans Pourbus II, particularly in the highly
detailed renderings of garments and lace. In Genoa he
was influenced by the portraits by Anthony van Dyck.