''Paulus Lesire'' (1611–1654) was a Dutch painter who specialised in history paintings and portraits. Born in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

, he was the son of a decorative painter and glass-artist from

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He trained as a painter in Dordrecht and was probably a pupil of Jacob Cuyp, joining the town's Guild of St Luke in 1631. On 10 September 1634 he married Lowize de Claar from the Hague and a few years later moved to the Hague with her. His composition and use of light seems to have been influenced by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

during the latter's time in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, to which Lesire moved towards the end of his life and where he died.

Sources

*https://archive.org/stream/oudholland06docugoog/oudholland06docugoog_djvu.txt *http://explore.rkd.nl/nl/explore/artists/49577 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lesire, Paulus 1611 births 1654 deaths Painters from Dordrecht 17th-century Dutch painters