FYT, JAN

born 1611, Antwerp, Brabant, Spanish Netherlands [now in Belgium] died Sept. 11, 1661, Antwerp Flemish painter known for his technical mastery in the rendering of animals. Apprenticed to a painter when scarcely more than 10 years old, Fyt was accepted into the Guild of St. Luke as a master at age 20 and over the next 30 years produced a vast number of pictures with facility and power. His forte was the depiction of animal life in its most varied forms; but for human figures and architectural backgrounds he often relied on collaborators. The masterpieces Silenus Amongst Fruit and Flowers, Diana and Her Nymphs with the Produce of the Chase, and Dead Game and Fruit in Front of a Triumphal Arch represent Fyt's collaborations with three different painters.