Augustinus Terwesten


Augustinus Terwesten was a 17th-century painter from the northern Netherlands specialized in portraits, architectural, and historical themes.

Early years in the Hague

Augustinus Terwesten studied with a painter named Wielin in the Hague who later went to serve Frederick Willem von Brandenburg. He then took lessons from Willem Doudyns for two years before setting off on a Grand Tour through Germany to Italy in 1672, where he spent three years.

Grand Tour to Rome and the Bentvueghels

In Rome he became a member of the painters' circle known as the Bentvueghels, where he earned the nickname "Patrysvogel", or partridge, after the story of Perdix by Ovid. He went back to the Hague via France and England, and was gone for a total of 6 years. In 1678 he set up a workshop in the Hague specialized in wall and ceiling decorations. 1682–1683 he helped to set up the Drawing Academy in the Hague set up by the "Confrerie Pictura".

German professor

In 1692 he became court painter to the son of his former royal patron, Frederick I of Prussia, in Berlin, and talked him into sponsoring an Akademie der Künste. After overseeing the building of this academy which was completed in 1697, he became professor there and lived there until his death in 1711. He taught both of his brothers Elias and Mattheus Terwesten, but also the painters Frans Beeldemaker, Nikolaus Bruno Belau, Andries Bertoen, Jacobus Bisschop, Nicolaes Hooft, and Cornelis Michiarus.
He is remembered today for his historical allegories and portraits.