Jan de Bray (c. 1627 – April 4, 1697) was a

Dutch Golden Age painter Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republi ...

. He lived and worked in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

until the age of 60, when he went bankrupt and moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Jan de Bray - The de Bray Family (The Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra) - WGA03122

Jan de Bray was influenced by his father

Salomon de Bray Salomon de Bray (1597 – 11 May 1664) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and architect. Biography De Bray was born in Amsterdam, but established himself in Haarlem before 1617, where he is registered as being a member of the schutterij that y ...

, and the portraitists

Bartholomeus van der Helst Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613 – buried 16 December 1670) was a Dutch painter. Considered to be one of the leading portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age, his elegant portraits gained him the patronage of Amsterdam's elite as well as th ...

, and

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century grou ...

. De Bray's works are mainly portraits, often of groups, and

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

s. He specialised in combining the two genres in the portrait historié, portraits of historical figures using contemporary figures, including himself and his family. Among his finest works are two versions of the ''Banquet of Cleopatra'', using his own family, including himself, as models (

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

, 1652, and Currier Museum of Art,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, 1669). The second version has great pathos, as most of those depicted had died in the plague of 1663–4.

Biography

Jan de Bray was born in Haarlem. According to Houbraken he was the most famous pupil of his father, the architect and poet

.Salomon de Bray Biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by

Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadtwisting'' (Twyndraat) ...

, courtesy of the

Digital library for Dutch literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, secon ...

Houbraken called Jan the "pearl in Haarlem's crown". Houbraken saw a painting by de Bray of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and the Return of the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an ...

in the collection of

Arnoud van Halen Arnoud van Halen (1673, Amsterdam – 1732, Amsterdam), was an 18th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands. Biography According to Houbraken he painted Christoffel Pierson's portrait for his Panpoeticon Batavum (cabinet of poets) ...

in Amsterdam, dated 1697, that he admired for its realistic flesh tones in the forms of David playing the harp and the

Levite Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew de ...

s behind him. Houbraken also mentioned some black and red chalk drawings by him that he saw at the Amsterdam home of Isaak del Court. Jan de Bray 002

He spent most of his career working in

, where he was for many years dean of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke.Jan de Bray
in the RKD His brother

Dirck de Bray Dirck de Bray (c. 1635 in Haarlem – 1694 in Goch) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography According to Houbraken he was a multi-talented son and pupil of the painter and architect Salomon de Bray.Goch. His brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

was also a painter. His mother was Anna Westerbaen, the sister of the painter Jan Westerbaen and the poet

Jacob Westerbaen Ridder Jacob Westerbaen (7 September 1599 – 31 March 1670), ''heer'' (squire) of Brantwyck-en-Ghybelant, was a Dutch poet. Life Westerbaen was born in The Hague, the son of a rope maker, and was initially schooled in the Staten-College, then ...

. His sister Cornelia married Jan Lievens. De Bray survived most of his family during an outbreak of the plague in Haarlem in 1664. He lost his father, his brother Joseph and three other siblings within two months of each other. His wives – Maria van Hees whom he married 21 October 1688,"Geschiedkundige aanteekeningen over Haarlemsche Schilders en Andere Beoefenaren van de Beeldende Kunsten" p. 247 ''books.google.com''
23 September 2011 Margaretha de Meyer whom he married in 1672,"Jan de Bray" ''russianpaintings.net''
23 September 2011 and Victoria Stalpert van der Wielen whom he married 30 January 1678 – each died before him; Victoria shortly after giving birth to their son, Johan Lucas. In 1689 he was declared bankrupt as a Haarlem citizen and moved to Amsterdam, where he died, though he was buried in Haarlem. File:Jan de Bray - Cleopatra puts the pearl in the wine - Royal Collection - 1652 - RCIN 404756.jpg, ''Cleopatra puts the pearl in the wine'',

, 1652 (first version) File:David Playing the Harp 1670 Jan de Bray.jpg, "David and the Ark of the Covenant", 1670 File:De Bray - Bacchus.jpg, ''Bacchus'', showing loose brush strokes File:De Bray - Adoration.jpg, ''The Adoration of the Magi'', a typical altarpiece for a schuilkerk File:Jan de Bray - Head of a Boy - Walters 37270.jpg, ''Head of a Boy''. The Walters Art Museum. File:Jan de Bray 003.jpg, ''Jael and Sisera'', 1659.

York Museums Trust York Museums Trust (YMT) is the charity responsible for operating some key museums and galleries in York, England. The trust was founded in 2002 to run York's museums on behalf of the City of York Council. It has seen an increase in annual foo ...

References

External links

Jan de Bray
on

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in Berlin that is listed on ...

Works and literature
on PubHist *Murray, P. & L. (1996). ''Dictionary of art and artists'' (p. 65). London: Penguin Books. . (For details see: Sources)
Jan De Bray and the Classical Tradition at the National Gallery of Art, Washington - 16pp pdf exhibition brochureEntry for Jan de Bray
in the RKD, the Netherlands Institute for Art History {{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Jan De 1627 births 1697 deaths Artists from Haarlem Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Painters from Haarlem