Jan de Bray

Jan de Bray ( – April 4, 1697) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem until the age of 60, when he went bankrupt and moved to Amsterdam.

Jan de Bray was influenced by his father Salomon de Bray, and the portraitists Bartholomeus van der Helst, and Frans Hals. De Bray's works are mainly portraits, often of groups, and history paintings. 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, 1652, and Currier Museum of Art, New Hampshire, 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 painter, architect and poet Salomon de Bray.Salomon de Bray Biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature Houbraken called Jan the "pearl in Haarlem's crown". Houbraken saw a painting by de Bray of David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant in the collection of Arnoud van Halen in Amsterdam, dated 1697, that he admired for its realistic flesh tones in the forms of David playing the harp and the Levites behind him. Houbraken also mentioned some black and red chalk drawings by him that he saw at the Amsterdam home of Isaak del Court.

He spent most of his career working in Haarlem, 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 was a flower painter who later became a monk in the monastery at Gaesdonck near Goch. His brother Joseph was also a painter. His mother was Anna Westerbaen, the sister of the painter Jan Westerbaen and the poet Jacob Westerbaen. 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 1668,"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'', Royal Collection, 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.

References

External links

Jan de Bray
on Artnet
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
1620s births
1697 deaths
Dutch Golden Age painters
Dutch male painters
Painters from Haarlem