Portrait of a lady, bust-length, in a black and white shawl, in a feigned oval

Jan de Bray was one of the foremost exponents of Dutch classicism, a style which fused naturalism with the ideals of antiquity. The son of the painter Salomon de Bray, Jan spent virtually his whole career in Haarlem. After training with his father, Jan established himself as portrait painter in 1650, a profession he continued for the following forty years. In addition to formal portraiture, he also painted portraits of his family and friends and portrayed them, as well as fellow citizens, in the guise of figures from history.