Jan de Baen

Jan de Baen (20 February 1633 – 1702) was a Dutch portrait painter who lived during the Dutch Golden Age. He was a pupil of the painter Jacob Adriaensz Backer in Amsterdam from 1645 to 1648. He worked for Charles II of England in his Dutch exile, and from 1660 until his death he lived and worked in The Hague. His portraits were popular in his day, and he painted the most distinguished people of his time.

Biography

Jan de Baen was born on 20 February 1633 in Haarlem, Holland, Dutch Republic. After his parents died, when he was a child, he lived with his uncle Hinderk Pyman (or Piemans) in Emden. Jan de Baen received his first painting lessons from his uncle, who was a painter himself. From 1645 to 1648 he lived in Amsterdam, where he was the pupil of painter Jacob Adriaensz Backer. but upon the English Restoration of 1660 did not follow his patron, but moved to The Hague, where he worked as a portrait painter for the rest of his life. The Elector of Brandenburg asked him to work at his court in Berlin, but he refused this invitation.

Works

His portraits were popular in his own day, and he painted the most distinguished people of his time.