Jacob van Campen

Jacob van Campen
Jacob van Campen in his book Images of the City Hall of Amsterdam in 30 engravings, 1665.
Born	(1596-02-02)2 February 1596 Haarlem, Holland, Dutch Republic
Died	13 September 1657(1657-09-13) (aged 61) Amersfoort, Utrecht, Dutch Republic
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Mauritshuis Huis ten Bosch Royal Palace

Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 – 13 September 1657), was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age.

He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and with time on his hands, he took up painting mainly as a pastime. In 1614, he became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke (in Haarlem the architects and painters were both in the same guild, and many were both, such as Pieter Saenredam and Salomon de Bray), and studied painting under Frans de Grebber - a number of Van Campen's oils survive. About 1616 to 1624 he is thought to have lived in Italy. On his return to the Netherlands, Van Campen turned to architecture, applying ideas borrowed from Andrea Palladio, Vincenzo Scamozzi and classical influences from Vitruvius. He was primarily responsible for introducing the classical revival style into Dutch Baroque architecture, combining the native, Dutch brick style with the Vitruvian principles he had learnt to produce "Dutch Classicism", an internationally influential style.

Van Campen was friendly with Constantijn Huygens, and together they designed a new house for Huygens. Even after Van Campen's death, his work greatly influenced Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, the designer of the Kleefse gardens (the gardens of Cleve), and on Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. The latter to own a book by Van Campen regardless of the expense. The city hall and the city palace of Potsdam owe a debt to ideas by Van Campen.