(b Amsterdam, 1534; d Amsterdam, 26 May 1592).
Dutch painter and draughtsman. He probably received his first
training from his father Barend Dircksz., nicknamed ‘Doove’ (Deaf)
Barend. In 1555 he went to Rome and Venice, where he presumably
worked for a while in Titian’s studio. Other Venetian artists,
including Jacopo Bassano, also had an important influence on him. He
returned to Amsterdam shortly before or during 1562, the year in
which he married Agnies Florisdr., by whom he fathered at least
eight children. He remained there for the rest of his life. He moved
in cultivated circles and was an accomplished musician,
mathematician and linguist. He introduced the Venetian style of
painting to the Netherlands: strong colours and rapid, sketchy
brushwork. Of his few surviving works there are two group portraits
of members of Amsterdam’s civic guard: Fourteen Guardsmen of Squad G
(1562; Amsterdam, Hist. Mus.) and the Perch Eaters (1566; Amsterdam,
Rijksmus.). Their lively compositions provide a welcome change from
the stiff civic guard groups typically produced around that time in
Amsterdam. The only dated portrait to survive, ? Dirck Jan
Hendricksz. (Amsterdam, Occo Hofje), was painted in 1567.
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