A Life Shrouded in Mystery: Unveiling Geertgen tot Sint Jans The name Geertgen tot Sint Jans resonates softly within the annals of Early Netherlandish painting, a whisper of brilliance from an artist whose life remains frustratingly obscure. Flourishing in Haarlem during the latter half of the 15th century—roughly between 1460 and 1490—Geertgen’s existence is pieced together primarily through the writings of Karel van Mander, a Dutch art historian writing over a century after his death. Van Mander suggests a connection to the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John in Haarlem, lending the artist h…