David Beck

Delft 1621 - The Hague 1656

David Beck, the son of a schoolmaster in Delft, received a good all-round education at his father's school. Before he left for London to join van Dyck's studio in 1640, he had been the pupil of Michiel van Mierevelt, the most eminent portrait painter in his hometown. In London, Beck had little opportunity to enjoy the instruction of the master himself as Van Dyck fell ill and died in 1641, but he evidently managed learn the flexible technique and refined manners of a court painter, since Charles I, King of England, thought highly of him and commissioned him to teach his sons drawing. Nevertheless, after a while Beck left England and travelled around the courts of Europe until he met an agent of Queen Christina of Sweden. She was passionately interested in arts and science and tried to attract foreign talents to her outlying country. David was made an offer he could not refuse and returned to Stockholm in 1647.

Beck followed the elegant example of Van Dyck in his large portraits of Queen Christina. In his portraits of some courtiers, he convincingly applied the realistic Dutch tradition of painting. Queen Christina was apparently satisfied with his services and she sent him on tour to the courts of Europe to paint princes, donate Christina portraits and to take care of our other matters . The diplomatic aspect of Beck's travels had possibly to do with Christina's ambition to become a pan-European political authority after her abdication. Success seems to have gone to Beck's head as he was reported in 1652 in Holland to be running around adorned with eight or ten gold chains . In 1653, Beck joined Christina's court in Rome and followed her to France in 1656. Beck continued his travels to The Hague where he died in the same year.