Luttringshausen, Johann Heinrich Paintings

Johann Heinrich Roos, originally born Johann Heinrich Luttringshausen, was a German Baroque painter known for his pastoral scenes and animal paintings. He was born on October 29, 1622, in Otterberg, a small town in the Palatinate region of Germany. His family moved to Amsterdam in 1631 due to the Thirty Years' War. In Amsterdam, Johann Heinrich adopted the surname Roos, inspired by the rose on his father's coat of arms, which marked his transition from Luttringshausen to the artist known as Johann Heinrich Roos.

In the Netherlands, Roos was exposed to the thriving Dutch art scene and received his initial training from the landscape painter Barent Graat. He later apprenticed with Guilliam Du Gardijn, from whom he learned the finer points of animal painting, a genre that would come to define his career. In 1640, Roos traveled to Italy, where he spent a significant amount of time in Rome. There, he was influenced by the work of Pieter van Laer (known as 'Il Bamboccio') and the Bamboccianti painters, who specialized in scenes of everyday peasant life. Roos also developed a keen interest in the depiction of animals in their natural environment, which is evident in many of his works.

After his time in Italy, Roos returned to Germany around 1647 and settled in Frankfurt am Main. He became a sought-after portraitist and painter of both religious subjects and, most notably, rural scenes populated with animals – sheep, cows, goats, and the like, which he rendered with exceptional realism and sensitivity. His style combined elements of Dutch realism with Italianate light and landscape elements, which made his work popular across Europe.

Johann Heinrich Roos married Katharina de Grebber, and together they had several children, two of whom, Philipp Peter and Johann Melchior, became painters themselves. Roos was not only influential through his art but also through his teaching. He contributed significantly to the development of the animal genre in the Rhine region and became a leading figure in the Frankfurt art scene.

Johann Heinrich Roos died on October 3, 1685, in Frankfurt am Main. His legacy lived on through his sons and his students, and today, his works can be found in various art collections and museums around the world. His contribution to the genre of animal painting remains significant in the history of European art.