Bijlert, Jan van

Jan van Bijlert was the son of a glass painter who, like his father, studied glass painting at the studio of his Utrecht contemporary, Abraham Bloemaert. van Bijlert later traveled abroad to France and Italy, including a stay in Rome in 1621 where he was one of the founding members of the Bentvueghels, a society of Netherlandish artists working in Rome. By 1624, van Bijlert had returned to Utrecht and stayed there for the remainder of his life. He served as dean of the city’s painters’ guild and became a regent of St Job’s Hospice in 1634. During this time, he specialized in figure painting and portraits, first working under Caravaggesque influences and then softening his approach to a more classical manner.