Cornelis Apostool: Life, Art, and Diplomacy Early Life and Education Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands on August 6, 1762, Cornelis Apostool came from a large family – the eleventh of twelve children. His father, Jan Apostool, was a Mennonite merchant dealing in animal skins and cocoa beans, and his mother was Cornelia de Witte. He received early education in foreign languages with a French teacher in Delft. Apostool began an apprenticeship with a salesman specializing in silver and gold in Rotterdam before pursuing formal artistic training. From 1784 to 1786, he studied landscape paint…