Jan Wellens de Cock was probably born around 1480 in Leiden and later settled in Antwerp. On August 6, 1502, he married Clara, the daughter of Peter van Beeringen.
Little reliable information about his early life survives. He may have been identical with a “Jan van Leyen” who became a master in Antwerp in 1503–1504, although this identification remains uncertain.
In 1506 de Cock appeared in the records of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp as the master of an apprentice named Loduwyck. He was probably also the “Jan de Cock” who worked for the guild of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Lof, carrying out commissions for Cathedral of Our Lady.
In 1507 he was paid for painting angels and restoring a representation of the Holy Ghost for an altar in Antwerp Cathedral. These works were likely destroyed during the Beeldenstorm of 1566.
In 1511 the guild paid him for cutting a woodblock used in a religious procession. This is the principal documentary evidence that he also worked as a block cutter and print designer.
De Cock served as dean of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1520 together with Joos van Cleve.
His artistic oeuvre remains the subject of scholarly debate, and no surviving work can be attributed to him with complete certainty. Earlier attributions proposed by Max J. Friedländer were later disputed by other scholars, including Beets and G.J. Hoogewerff. Paintings and prints associated with de Cock are generally linked to Antwerp Mannerism and frequently reflect the influence of Bosch.
Attributed works include a triptych with a Calvary scene in the Rijksmuseum, versions of the “Temptation of Saint Anthony” in the Rijksmuseum and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and a drawing of the same subject in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Guild of Saint Luke
