Thomas de Keyser

Thomas de Keyser (1596–1667) was a man that came from a family with many talents that he managed to skill himself with which includes a Dutch portrait painter, a dealer in Belgium bluestone and stone mason.

In the year 1616, he and Pieter became apprentices of their father in architecture in 1619 he presented his first painting, an Anatomic Lesson, but this attribution was rejected; nowadays Pickenoy is mentioned as creator.

Thomas might have been influenced by Cornelis Ketel and Pieter Isaacsz, for years due to them being friends of his father.

In 1622, Thomas and his elder brother, Pieter became members of the Guild of St. Luke which first started in Europe in 1382 but only started showing promise in 1442. The Guild of St. Luke is the governing body for artists’ professional, social, and economic needs all over the world.

He was a pupil of Cornelis van der Voort, the head of the guild, who died in 1624, according to the Netherlands Institute for Art History.

Keyser was the most wanted portrait painter in the 1630’s where Rembrandt over took him in popularity in the Netherlands.

Yet, due to the simple fact that Rembrandt was inspired by Keyser, he painted in the same style which caused most of Keyser’s paintings to later be falsely attributed to Rembrandt.