Martin van meytens biography

Martin van Meytens

Selfportrait

Family Group

Martin van Meytens (June 24, 1695 – March 23, 1770) was a Dutch-Swedish painter who painted members of the Royal Court of Austria such as Marie Antoinette, Maria Theresa of Austria, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, the Emperor's family and others.

Francis 1

His painting style has inspired many other painters to paint in a similar format.

Life and career

Martin van Meytens was born and baptised in Stockholm, Sweden. He began his artistic studies with his father, the painter Martin Meytens the Elder, who had moved from The Hague to Sweden.

He went rather early on a study trip. He visited London, Paris and Vienna, then he lived and worked for a long time in Italy (Rome, Turin). At the beginning he painted little enamel miniature portraits, and he changed to oil painting only around 1730, having settled in Vienna.

Here he became very popular as a portrait painter in the circles of the court and the aristocr