Jan Luyken - Paskaart van de Golf van Benin

Johannes Luyken was a Dutch poet, illustrator, and engraver. Amsterdam born (1649-1712), Jan was a very important etcher in the period after Rembrandt. His artistry is distinguished by its clarity and detail. He learned engraving from his father Kaspar Luyken. He married at 19 and had several children, of who Kasparus (Casper) also became a renowned engraver. Luyken is most famous for his picture-book "Het Menselyk Bedryf". His son assisted with the making of the book. Luyken Religious Persecutions prints series is 'appalling engravings containing all the tortures that the madness of religion could devise.' As a young man, he published a volume of erotic poetry. Later, influenced by the writings of the German mystic Jakob Böhme, Luyken embraced pietistic Christianity. In his twenty-sixth year, he had a religious experience that inspired him to write moralistic poetry. He became increasingly ascetic and withdrew from society. Luyken died in poverty. In their time, Jan and his son Casper Luyken turned out not only to be extremely versatile but also most prolific artists. In all, their production includes almost 4,500 different prints, of which about one fourth are Casper’s work. Together, father and son collaborated on only 36 prints. Jan and Casper Luyken worked for more than a hundred publishing houses, in and outside Amsterdam. The prints in the books they illustrated feature a great diversity of subjects and are often witty and full of surprising details. Jan chose mostly pious and biblical subjects, whereas Casper depicted more worldly scenes.

Since the 16th century, Dutch artists used prints to promote their art and access a wider public than what was possible for a single painting. During the Dutch Golden Age, (17th century), Dutch artists perfected the techniques of etching and engraving. The rise of printmaking in the Netherlands is attributed to a connection between Italy and the Netherlands during the 1500s. Together with the large-scale production, it allowed the expanding reach of an artist’s work. Prints were popular as collecting items, so publishing houses commissioned artists to create a drawing or a painting, and then print the work for collectors - similar to what occurs at publishing houses today. Dutch printmaking evolved rapidly, so in 16th-century etching prevailed over the engraving. Major Dutch Printmaker Artists: Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hendrick Goltzius, Rembrandt van Rijn, Anna Maria van Schurman, Adriaen Jansz van Ostade, Ferdinand Bol.

Benin is a country in West Africa, bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west and Niger to the north-east. The capital is Porto-Novo, but the largest city is Cotonou. The official language is French and the currency is the West African CFA franc. Benin has a population of about 12 million and covers an area of 114,763 square kilometres. The country is known for its rich cultural heritage, including the kingdom of Dahomey, which was renowned for its powerful army and intricate artwork. Today, Benin is a developing country with agriculture and trade as its main economic activities. It is important to note that Benin has a dark history as a major centre of the African slave trade. Many people from the region were captured and sold into slavery, with the city of Ouidah being one of the main departure points for slaves transported across the Atlantic. Today, Benin is working to preserve and honour its cultural heritage, while acknowledging and addressing the atrocities of its past. Benin gained independence from France in 1960 and has had a stable democratic government ever since. The country has made progress in improving education and healthcare, but still faces challenges such as poverty and corruption.