Only a few of Jan Baptist van Heil's works are known. He is mainly known for his work as a portrait painter. He was the designer of the portraits of the three van Heil brothers that appeared in
Het Gulden Cabinet, the book with artist biographies by
Cornelis de Bie published in
Antwerp in 1662. The portraits were engraved by
Frederik Bouttats the Younger. He also designed the
Portrait of Breynaert (a man known for his excessive eating), which was engraved by
Antony van der Does. He also painted religious scenes as altarpieces for local churches. An example is the
Adoration of the Magi in the St. John's Evangelist Church of Tervuren. Jan Baptist van Heil collaborated with his brother Daniel on the
Infante Isabella in the gardens of the Coudenberg Palace (c. 1630,
Museum of the City of Brussels). Jan Baptist is believed to have been responsible for the
staffage while his brother Daniel painted the landscape and the palace. The canvas shows a landscape with the palace of the governors of the Southern Netherlands near Brussels. In the foreground the
Archduchess Isabella, widow of Archduke Albrecht and reigning governess, walks in the gardens of the palace in the habit of the
Poor Clares, a religious order the Archduchess had joined after the death of her husband. Jan Baptist van Heil was invited to provide designs for the first French Theatre established in Brussels in the 1670s. ==References==