Adriaen Backer (ca 1635,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

— buried 23 May 1684, Amsterdam) was a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

portrait painter, active in

and

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

Biography

Adriaen Backer - Daniel Niellius staalmeester van Alkmaar

Adriaen Backer - Amsterdam almshouse regents

Backer was the son of the

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

Tjerk Adriaensz and the

Remonstrant The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ori ...

Marritje Dootshooft. He was born in

. His baptizing is not registered, letting S.A.C. Dudok van Heel suggest that he was born before 1633., though Adriaen professed to be 33 at his wedding in 1669. Adriaen probably learned to paint from his uncle

Jacob Adriaensz Backer Jacob Adriaensz Backer (1608 – 27 August 1651) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He produced about 140 paintings in twenty years, including portraits, religious subjects, and mythological paintings. In his style, he was influenced by Wybrand d ...

. In 1666 he traveled to Italy with Dirck Ferreris. In December 1667 he was back in Amsterdam and a witness when his brother Jacob married. Backer married Elsje Colyn on August 27, 1669 RKD entry on Adriaen Backer
/ref>Amsterdam City Archives
/ref> and the couple had two sons, who both died very young. Backer lived on

Spui A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic t ...

, behind

Begijnhof, Amsterdam The Begijnhof is one of the oldest in Amsterdam, Netherlands. A group of historic buildings, mostly private dwellings, centre on it. As the name suggests, it was originally a béguinage. Today it is also the site of two churches, the Catholic '' ...

. Christoffel Lubienitski was his pupil and learned to paint portraits from him. Backer produced several group portraits of

Hofje A (diminutive of 'hof', 'court') is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. have existed since the Middle Ages. A provided housing for elderly people (mostly women). They were privately funded, and served as a form of ...

regents as well as historical allegories for city commissions. According to Houbraken his ''Last Judgement'' hanging in the court room (''

vierschaar A Vierschaar is a historical term for a tribunal in the Netherlands. Before the separation of lawmaking, law enforcement, and justice duties, the government of every town was administered by a senate (called a ''Wethouderschap'') formed of two, thr ...

'') of the Amsterdam City Hall (now called the Amsterdam Royal Palace) was one of his best works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Backer, Adriaen 1630s births 1684 deaths Painters from Amsterdam Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters