Zeger Jacob van Helmont, was a Flemish painter and tapestry designer who specialized in portraits and history paintings.
Background
He trained with his father in Antwerp but spent his active career in Brussels where he worked for the local churches and tapestry works. Zeger Jacob van Helmont was born in Antwerp as the son of the history and portrait painter January van Helmont and Isabella le Rousseau. He trained with his father but did not join the local Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp.
Career
Instead, he moved in 1711 to Brussels, the capital of the Spanish Netherlands and the location of the court. In Brussels he joined the local Guild of Saint Luke in the hope of finding a ready market for his work. As the result of the 1695 Bombardment of Brussels by French troops many churches, guilds and the local authorities ordered new artworks to replace those destroyed during the bombardment.
Van Helmont secured many commissions from these institutions.
He also found work to make cartoons for the local tapestry works. He died in Brussels.