Biography

According to Houbraken, he showed a talent for drawing at a young age, and had many teachers, of which he kept a record. His first teacher was Martinus Saeghmolen

Martin Zaagmolen

Martin Zaagmolen or Martinus Saeghmolen was a Dutch painter.Houbraken notices him as a painter of history, and describes a picture of the Last Judgment by him, in which were introduced a great number of figures, very incorrectly drawn, and feebly coloured. Saeghmolen operated from 1640 to 1660...

 in 1660 for two months, and in 1661, he took lessons from Abraham van den Tempel. In 1665 he took seven lessons with Gabriel Metsu

Gabriel Metsu

Gabriël Metsu was a Dutch painter of history paintings, genre works and portraits.- Life :Metsu was the son of the Flemish painter Jacques Metsu , who lived most of his days at Leiden, and Jacomijntje Garniers, his third wife, whom he married in 1625. Jacomijntje was the widow of a painter with...

, and in 1667 he spent three months in Haarlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

 to take lessons with Adriaen van Ostade

Adriaen van Ostade

Adriaen van Ostade was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works.-Life:...

. Though his entire education spanned several years, Houbraken was astonished that he became so skilled with so few hours of professional study, and concludes that he must have had a great natural talent that he practiced extensively on his own.

Houbraken wrote that he moved to Amsterdam to work for Jonas Witsen, a wealthy artlover who introduced him to all of his friends as a portrait painter. He married twice, first to Eva Visscher in 1678 in Buiksloot

Buiksloot

Buiksloot is a former village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is now a neighbourhood of Amsterdam-Noord.Buiksloot was a separate municipality until 1921, when it was merged with Amsterdam....

 (Amsterdam), and the second time in 1693 to the widow Elise Klanes. His pupils were Ottmar Elliger

Ottmar Elliger

Ottmar Elliger was a Flemish Baroque flower painter.-Biography:According to the Netherlands Institute for Art History, he was born in Göteborg, but he was trained in Antwerp by Daniel Seghers. His earliest dated work is from 1653. He is registered in Copenhagen in 1654, Amsterdam in 1660 ,...

 and Dirk Valkenburg

Dirk Valkenburg

Dirk Valkenburg , was a Dutch Golden Age painter.-Biography:According to the RKD he was a pupil of Michiel van Musscher, Herman van Vollenhove, and Jan Weenix...

.