Johan Alexander Neyt

Johan Alexander Neyt (10 November 1624 - 8 August 1686) was a Brunanter military commander, statesman, diplomat and patron of the arts. He was a son of painter Johannes Neyt the Elder and succeeded him as head of the Neyt family in 1648. He fought under Spanish command in the Franco Spanish and Anglo Spanish Wars. He then returned to the Royal Guard and became an important figure in the plotting against King Willem II. In 1663, he was a commander under Karl Van Draak in the Civil War. After the war, he was made Count of Kleinebeek and received a country estate. Neyt then became an important adviser to the king and a diplomat in Spain. Briefly Chief Minister before his death, he was the father of painter Johannes Neyt the Younger.

Family and early life
Neyt was born in Grijzestad as the oldest son of Johannes Neyt the Elder, a famous painter, and his cousin Theodora Neyt, within the aristocratic and rich Neyt family. From a young age, he persuaded a military career. Johan Alexander joined the Royal Guard in 1643.

In 1655, he was married to Alberta Helmsberg (1626-1678). They had multiple children, including painter Johannes Neyt the Younger, who succeeded him as head of the Neyt family following his death in 1686. After his wife's early death, Johan Alexander was devastated and left Brunant for Spain and only returned in 1684.

Spanish Army
Following his father's death in 1648, the young Johan Alexander succeeded him as head of the Neyt family. His father never supported his son's military career and his death meant new possibilities for Johan Alexander; he moved to Spain, where he joined the royal forces of Philip IV. First as a member of the infantry, thereafter of the cavalry, Neyt participated in several battles and sieges in Flanders and northern France as part of the Franco Spanish War, most notably at Arras, Valenciennes, the Dunes and Dunkirk. Following the inconclusively ending of the war and the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, Neyt returned to Brunant.

Civil war
Neyt initially wanted to remain in Spain and elaborate a diplomatic and political career there. When he heard of a rebel movement against the autocratic rule of Willem II, whom Neyt despised, however, he returned. Along with many military officers, he joined the Cortes-backed plot to remove the king with his nephew, Karl Van Draak.

In February 1663, the Civil War started. Neyt joined Van Draak's forces at the Battle of Grunbeck. He was third-in-command at the victorious Battle of Bosterbeck and also played an important role as leader of the cavalry at the Battle of Grijzestad.

After the war, Neyt was made Count of Kleinebeek. He was then put in charge of Roodstad for six months.

Later years
Upon returning to the royal court in Grijzestad in 1664, Neyt became a military adviser to the new king. Following his wife's death in 1678, he left Brunant for Spain, where he became the ambassador of Brunant. When his health deteriorated, he returned to Brunant. In 1685, he began building the Berlarehuis near Grijzestad, but died the next summer. His son continued the construction of the family estate, which has been the main residence of the Neyt family since then.

From September 1685 until his death, he briefly served as Chief Minister, the highest-ranked adviser to the king.

Patron of the arts
Johan Alexander Neyt was known as a patron of the arts, someone who sponsored several artists, including painters and writers. His father was a famous painter and his son also became a noted painter of the so-called "Golden Age". Neyt started a family collection that later became one of the largest and most valuable in Brunant. When he was a military adviser to Karl Van Draak, he ordered several paintings of the Civil War, most of which then became part of the royal collection and later the national museums.

He was a Knight of the Order of the Dragon.