![Jan de Bray - Caring for Orphans [1663]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3835/15164934207_48aa82cf9f_o.jpg)
The Haarlem artist, Jan de Bray (1626 - 1697) may have been taught by his father, the painter and architect Salomon de Bray. Jan de Bray is mainly known for his stately portraits. He was also a master of informal portraits, as can be seen from his lively depiction of a Haarlem printer and his wife, Abraham Casteleyn and Margarieta van Bancken. In the early seventeenth century Frans Hals, with his 'rough and ready' painting style, was Haarlem's favourite portrait painter, but after 1650 tastes changed in favour of the young Jan de Bray. De Bray received by far the most commissions to paint portraits. His works, in contrast to those of Frans Hals, were smoothly painted, evenly lit and filled with bright colours. Jan de Bray died in Haarlem at the age of seventy.
[Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem - Oil on canvas, 134.5 x 154 cm]