jacob van oost or jacob van oost the elder was a flemish painter of history paintings and portraits. he was the most important painter of bruges in the 17th century through his portraits of members of the local bourgeois and his many altarpieces made in the spirit of the counter reformation. he also created genre paintings of musicians and card players for the open market. jacob van oost was born in bruges as the son of johannes van oost en gheeraerdyne weyts. he descended from a well-off established family. it is not clear who was his master but he was probably a pupil of his brother frans v…