(b Antwerp, 1561; d Antwerp, ?Sept 1641). Painter and draughtsman, son of (1) Lambert van Noort. He may have been his father’s pupil for a short time but he must also have had another teacher after his father’s early death c. 1570. Adam became a master only in 1587 and immediately started a studio that remained active until late in his life. More than 30 pupils were enrolled between 1587 and 1627, the most famous being Rubens (possibly in 1593) and Jordaens (1607). Like many contemporary artists, Adam van Noort briefly turned towards Calvinism (he was registered as Lutheran in the civic guards list of 1585), but he quickly returned to Catholicism. When, in 1586, he married Elisabeth Nuyts, the daughter of an Antwerp merchant, who was also a notorious Protestant, the ceremony took place in Antwerp Cathedral, and all their children were afterwards christened there. Through this marriage and his successful studio, Adam van Noort became a well-to-do citizen. His social position gradually rose, but his relationship with the Guild of St Luke seems to have been uneven. In 1597 he was appointed dean of the Guild, but five years later there were legal complaints against him for his management of the accounts; moreover, while dean, he was accused of having made use of a panel in the painters’ chapel in Antwerp Cathedral for a painting of his own. He was forced to withdraw it and to provide new panels for their new altarpiece.

Part of the Noort, van family

• Noort, Adam van
  • Noort, van
  • pupils
    • Balen, Hendrik van, I
    • Jordaens, Jacob, §1(i): Life and career, before 1633
    • Rubens, Peter Paul, §I, 1: Formative years, before 1600
    • Vrancx, Sebastiaen, §1: Early works, before c 1611