Jan de Bray, c 1627 – April 4, 1697, was a Dutch painter, draftsman, and printmaker of the Dutch Golden Age. He was born in Haarlem, the son of the painter, architect, and poet Salomon de Bray and Anna Westerbaen. He trained within his father’s workshop and belonged to a family that included several artists. He spent most of his career in Haarlem, where he became one of the city’s leading portrait and history painters.
De Bray worked in portraiture, civic group portraiture, biblical subjects, mythological scenes, and history painting. His work combines careful drawing, polished surfaces, and an interest in classical subject matter. He painted numerous portraits of Haarlem regents and civic institutions, while also producing ambitious narrative works such as The Discovery of Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes and The de Bray Family / The Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra. His family portraits are among the most distinctive works of seventeenth-century Dutch painting.
Later in life de Bray served as dean of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke. His works are held by the Frans Hals Museum, Rijksmuseum, Louvre, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, National Museum in Warsaw, Currier Museum of Art, Speed Art Museum, and other public and private collections.
Self-Portrait, 19th century copy
Etching on paper
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
De Bray and his Wife Represented as Ulysses and Penelope, 1668
Oil on canvas, 43.2 x 65 in
Speed Art Museum, Louisville
Portrait of a Woman from the Bor Family, 17th century
Oil on panel, 21.2 x 17 in
Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent
Portrait of Gilbert de Flines, 1658
Oil on wood, 26.4 x 21.7 in
Louvre, Paris
The de Bray Family / The Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra, 1669
Oil on canvas, 90.5 x 70.8 in
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire
Adoration of the Magi, 1658
Oil on oak panel, 28 x 21.7 in
Private Collection
David Playing the Harp, 1670
Oil on canvas, 55.9 x 60.6 in
Private Collection
The Regents of the Children's Orphanage in Haarlem, 1663
Oil on canvas, 74 x 98 in
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
Pharaoh's Daughter with Her Attendants and Moses in the Reed Basket, 1661
Oil on canvas, 47.6 x 64.6 in
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Tending Children at the Orphanage in Haarlem, 1663
Oil on canvas, 53.1 x 60.6 in
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
The Discovery of Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes, 1664
Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 70.5 in
National Museum, Warsaw
The Governors of the Guild of St Luke, Haarlem, 1675
Oil on canvas, 51.2 x 72.4 in
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
Portrait of the Artist's Parents, c 1660
Oil on panel, 31.5 x 25.6 in
Private Collection
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