Born 1597 in Strasbourg, died 1657 in Idstein in the Taunus. The son of a diplomatic courier, he was apprenticed to the painter Daniel Soreau, who was born in Antwerp but had fled to Hanau. After Soreau's death in 1619 Stoskopff took over his workshop. After the year 1622 he went to Paris, where he probably lived until 1639, with exception of the periods when he travelled. In 1641 he returned to Strasbourg, where he attained considerable fame. In 1655 Count Johann von Nassau-Idstein called him to Idstein. A number of Stosskopff’s signed works have survived; he painted different types of still lifes which reveal the influence of the Parisian school, but also a linearity of German origin and modelling with strong chiaroscuro.
Lit.: Sebastian Stosskopff: Sein Leben, sein Werk, seine Zeit, Idstein 1987 (Texts: Wolfgang J. Müller & Silvia Berger) [ex. cat.]; Birgit Hahn-Woemle: Sebastian Stoskopff, Stuttgart 1996.