Jan Baptist Wolfaerts

Jan Baptist Wolfaerts (1625–between 1671 and 1687) was a Flemish painter known for his Italianate landscapes with figures, particularly pastoral scenes featuring shepherds and cattle. Born in Antwerp, he was the son of Artus Wolfaerts, a prominent painter of religious and mythological subjects who likely trained him. After his father’s death when Jan Baptist was 16, he possibly traveled to Rome via Paris, as Italianate elements in his early works suggest.

By 1647, Wolfaerts was recorded in Haarlem, where he joined the Guild of Saint Luke. He later worked in Rome, documented there in 1658 under the name Giovanbattista Ulfard. Returning to Haarlem by 1659, he purchased a house and had a son out of wedlock in 1661. Mental health issues emerged in the mid-1660s, leading him to move between Antwerp and Haarlem multiple times.

Wolfaerts’ work was highly regarded; his paintings were sold through Amsterdam dealer Van Meldert and collected by Abraham de Pape of Leiden. His Italianate landscapes with shepherds and cattle were influenced by Haarlem painters Nicolaes Berchem and Salomon Rombouts, with some works previously attributed to Berchem. He also painted Dutch landscapes with fewer figures.

Wolfaerts’ death date and place are unclear, but it is believed he died in Antwerp between 1671 and 1687.