JANSSEN, Cornelius, called Johnson, an eminent painter of portraits, was born at Amsterdam (though in the Chronological tables, and in Sandrart, it is improperly asserted that he was born in London), and he resided in England for several years; where he was engaged in the service of King James I. and painted several excellent portraits of that monarch, as also of his children and of the principal nobility of his court. He had not the freedom of hand, nor the grace of Vandyck; but in other respects he was accounted his equal, and in the finishing his pictures superior. His paintings are easily distinguished by their smooth, clear, and delicate tints, and by that character of truth and nature with which they are strongly marked. He generally painted on board; and, for the most part, his draperies are black; probably because the opposition of that tint made his flesh colours appear more beautifully bright, especially in his female figures. It is said that he used a quantity of ultramarine in the black colours, as well as in his carnations; which may be one great cause of their preserving their original lustre even to this day. Frequently he painted in a small size in oil, and often copied his own works in that manner. His fame began to be somewhat obscured, on the arrival of Vandyck in England; and the civil war breaking out some time after, induced him to return to his own country, where his paintings were in the highest esteem. He died in 1685.