Jan Cossiers: A Flemish Baroque Pioneer Jan Cossiers (1600 – 1671) stands as a pivotal figure in the Antwerp School of painting, marking the transition from Caravaggio’s dramatic tenebrism to a more refined and psychologically nuanced style that nonetheless retained the expressive power of its predecessor. Born in Antwerp, Belgium, he descended from a family steeped in artistic tradition—his father, Antoine Cossiers, was himself a watercolorist—establishing him within a milieu acutely attuned to visual innovation. His early training under Cornelius de Vos instilled foundational principles of…