Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen
Dirk Rafelsz Camphuysen (1586, Gorinchem9 July 1627, Dokkum) was a Dutch painter, poet and theologian.
Also recorded as Dirck Rafelsz. Camphuysen · Dirck Raphaelsz. Kamphuijsen · Dirck Rafaelsz. Camphuysen · Dirk-Rafelsz Camphuysen
Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen

Rijksmuseum · CC0
- Name
- Dirk Rafelsz Camphuysen
- Born
- 1586
- Birthplace
- Gorinchem
- Died
- 9 July 1627
- Place of death
- Dokkum
- Education
- Dirck Govertsz
- Nationality
- Dutch Republic
- Occupation
- poet · painter · translator · writer · preacher
- Languages
- Dutch
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Documentary summary
Dirk Rafelsz Camphuysen (1586, Gorinchem9 July 1627, Dokkum) was a Dutch painter, poet and theologian.
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Note VALÉORINE
Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen (1586–1627) was a Dutch painter, poet and preacher, among other activities. Born in Gorinchem, the painter died in Dokkum. Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen worked in Amersfoort and Leiden.
Languages used include Dutch. Works by the painter are held at Führermuseum.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q1932984 · wikipedia · Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Dirk Rafelsz Camphuysen • Born — 1586 • Birthplace — Gorinchem • Died — 9 July 1627 • Place of death — Dokkum • Education — Dirck Govertsz
Biography
Biography
According to Houbraken, he was the son of a respected surgeon at Gorcum. His mother was a mennonite whose father Hans van Mazeik was beheaded for his beliefs. His mother died when young Dirk was eight, and his father followed her soon after into the grave. Camphuysen manifested great artistic talent. His older brother, who took over his father's surgical business, sent young Dirk to learn drawing from the painter Dirck Govertsz, who later also taught his son Govert and his son's contemporary Hendrik Verschuring. He practised art quite successfully until the age of eighteen, whereupon he started to study languages. Houbraken saw some of his paintings and drawings and said he did well at landscapes with farmsheds and animals. Houbraken also mentions maneschyn or moonlight scenes. At Leiden, Camphuysen was recommended as a tutor to the 'Heer van Langerak', so deserted the pursuit of art, to become a private tutor and secretary in Nieuwpoort (Netherlands), where he studied theology in his free time. After substituting a few times for pastor Taurinus in the Domkerk in Utrecht (city), he was appointed minister of Vleuten by his boss, 'Heer van Langerak'. He married and was relatively successful as a minister, but he had embraced the doctrines of Arminianism, and like other Arminians or Remonstrants, he was banned from ministry and teaching and driven into exile (1619). Another painter-minister Lambert Jacobsz told him to leave the ministry and take up safer pursuits. He apparently took up poetry rather than painting, since so few of his paintings survive today. Houbraken claimed to have taken his information from Life of Dirk Rafelsz. Kamphuizen, a pamphlet that was published four times; first in Rotterdam, by Barent Bos, 1683, then in Amsterdam, by Jan Rieuwertsz, 1699 (this is the version Houbraken read); third in Amsterdam, by Marten Schagen, 1723, and lastly in Amsterdam, by Petrus Conradi, 1775. The close of his life was spent at Dokkum. His nephew Raphael (born 1597) is by some considered to have been the author of several of the works ascribed to him, and his son Govaert (1624–1674), a follower or imitator of Paul Potter, is similarly credited. Houbraken was surprised that Camphuysen let his son learn painting, since his biography seemed to be a treatise against the pursuit of arts.
Works
Works
Camphuysen left a translation of the Psalms, and a number of short pieces of poetry. He was also author of several theological works, among which is a Compendium Doctrinae Sociniorum. His pictures are mostly small. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, the best of his works are his sunset and moonlight scenes and his views of the Rhine and other rivers.
Dokkum, Zuiderbolwerk cemetery.
Dokkum, Zuiderbolwerk cemetery.
• Illustration — Information at the grave of Dirck Raphaelsz Camphuysen.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Origins and background
Origins and background
On origins, the institutional record states the following. Camphuysen died in 1627 at Dokkum. It is also recorded that dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen was born in 1586 at Gorinchem.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Dirck Rafelsz. Camphuysen, Dirck Raphaelsz. Camphuysen, Dirk-Rafelsz Camphuysen and Dirck Raphaelsz. His recorded language was Dutch. His recorded confession was Arminianism. One child is recorded: Govert Dircksz Camphuysen.
Identity
Identity
Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen is recorded as poet, painter, translator, writer and preacher.

Dokkum, Zuiderbolwerk cemetery. Information at the grave of Dirck Raphaelsz Camphuysen (1586-1627)
Dominicus Johannes Bergsma
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1586
Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen born at Gorinchem.
1627
Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen died at Dokkum.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Gorinchem.
Birth place
Dokkum.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1932984: Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Dirk Rafelsz Kamphuysen Biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
- 2.Hans van Mazeik is not listed as one of the Martyrs of Gorkum
- 3.Dirk Rafaelsz Camphuysen in the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD)
- 4.Camphuysen, Dirk Rafelsz. 136.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q1932984: Dirk Rafaelsz CamphuysenWikimedia Foundation
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
1593: Town and river in moonlight (Führermuseum).
This entry is compiled from 8 catalogued sources across 4 independent registers. The registers consulted are Crossref registry, Wikimedia Foundation, Wellcome Collection and Wikipedia. Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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