Visch, Matthias De

Visch, Matthias de a Flemish painter, was born at Reningen in 1702. He studied at Bruges, under Joseph Van der Kerkhove, and in the academy, where he obtained the first prize in 1721. He went to Paris in 1723, and from thence to Italy, where he resided nine years, diligently studying the antique and the works of the great masters. He then returned to Bruges and opened a school of design, and, executed several works for the churches. He was subsequently appointed director of the academy at Bruges, and was noted more for his efforts to advance the art and the instruction of pupils than for great skill in execution. He collected materials for a history of painting in Belgium, which were afterwards used by Descamps in his Lives of the Flemish Painters. He died in 1765. See Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, s.v.